Low Aedes aegypti Vector Competence for Zika Virus from Viremic Rhesus Macaques.

Rosilainy Surubi Fernandes,Sheila Maria Barbosa Lima,Mariana Rocha David,Tatiana Kugelmeier,Márcia Cristina Ribeiro Andrade,Ricardo Lourenço-De-Oliveira,Anielly Ferreira-De-Brito,Filipe Vieira Santos De Abreu,Jaqueline Mendes De Oliveira,Marcelo A Pinto,Noemi R Gardinali

doi:10.3390/v12121345

Rosilainy Surubi Fernandes, Sheila Maria Barbosa Lima + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/v12121345

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Abstract

Despite worldwide efforts to understand the transmission dynamics of Zika virus (ZIKV), scanty evaluation has been made on the vector competence of Aedes aegypti fed directly on viremic human and non-human primates (NHPs). We blood-fed Ae. aegypti from two districts in Rio de Janeiro on six ZIKV infected pregnant rhesus macaques at several time points, half of which were treated with Sofosbuvir (SOF). Mosquitoes were analyzed for vector competence after 3, 7 and 14 days of incubation. Although viremia extended up to eight days post monkey inoculation, only mosquitoes fed on the day of the peak of viremia, recorded on day two, became infected. The influence of SOF treatment could not be assessed because the drug was administered just after mosquito feeding on day two. The global infection, dissemination and transmission rates were quite low (4.09%, 1.91% and 0.54%, respectively); no mosquito was infected when viremia was below 1.26 × 105 RNA copies/mL. In conclusion, Ae. aegypti vector competence for ZIKV from macaques is low, likely to be due to low viral load and the short duration of ZIKV viremia in primates suitable for infecting susceptible mosquitoes. If ZIKV infection in human and macaques behaves similarly, transmission of the Zika virus in nature is most strongly affected by vector density.

Highlights

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in 1947 in the Zika Forest in Uganda, from a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) used as sentinel [1]
Natural infections in sylvatic mosquitoes were first detected in pools of Aedes africanus in 1948 in Uganda, but other African species have been subsequently incriminated in the transmission [1,13,14,15,16]
Animals were subcutaneously inoculated in the glabrous skin of the abdomen with 1 mL of supernatant of a Vero cell culture containing 107 plaque-forming units (PFU)/mL of a ZIKV strain isolated from a patient from

Summary

Introduction

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first isolated in 1947 in the Zika Forest in Uganda, from a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) used as sentinel [1]. ZIKV cases were rarely reported in the following decades [2]. In 2015, the first cases of ZIKV were recorded in Brazil [5,6], and an explosive epidemic was subsequently recorded in the Americas [7]. Natural infections in sylvatic mosquitoes were first detected in pools of Aedes africanus in 1948 in Uganda, but other African species have been subsequently incriminated in the transmission [1,13,14,15,16]. Outside Africa, the virus has caused severe urban and peri-urban epidemics where the domestic mosquito Ae. aegypti has been incriminated as the main vector [13,17,18]

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