Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused severe epidemics in South America beginning in 2015, following its spread through the Pacific. We comparatively assessed the vector competence of ten populations of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus from Brazil and two of Ae. aegypti and one of Culex quinquefasciatus from New Caledonia to transmit three ZIKV isolates belonging to African, Asian and American lineages. Recently colonized mosquitoes from eight distinct sites from both countries were orally challenged with the same viral load (107 TCID50/mL) and examined after 7, 14 and 21 days. Cx. quinquefasciatus was refractory to infection with all virus strains. In contrast, although competence varied with geographical origin, Brazilian and New Caledonian Ae. aegypti could transmit the three ZIKV lineages, with a strong advantage for the African lineage (the only one reaching saliva one-week after challenge). Brazilian Ae. albopictus populations were less competent than Ae. aegypti populations. Ae. albopictus generally exhibited almost no transmission for Asian and American lineages, but was efficient in transmitting the African ZIKV. Viral surveillance and mosquito control measures must be strengthened to avoid the spread of new ZIKV lineages and minimize the transmission of viruses currently circulating.
Highlights
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus (Flaviviridae, Flavivirus) that originated in Africa, where it is transmitted either in the wild or modified environments by Aedes mosquitoes
infection rates (IR) did not increase with incubation time, regardless of the tested ZIKV isolates; the results from the African isolate were a very representative example of this trend (Figure 1)
Two New Caledonian populations of Ae. aegypti were orally challenged with three strains of ZIKV
Summary
Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus (Flaviviridae, Flavivirus) that originated in Africa, where it is transmitted either in the wild or modified environments by Aedes mosquitoes. Beginning in 2007, when it caused the first outbreak detected outside Africa (Yap Island, Federated States of Micronesia, Pacific region) the virus gained notoriety [1,2]. In 2013, ZIKV emerged in French Polynesia [3], leading to more than 8700 suspected cases and 30,000 medical consultations reported by the sentinel surveillance network [4]. A recent seroprevalence study estimated that more than half of the population was infected by ZIKV in French Polynesia [5]. From French Polynesia, ZIKV spread to New Caledonia in 2013 [6,7], affecting the whole territory. The New Caledonia Health Authorities estimated the Pathogens 2020, 9, 575; doi:10.3390/pathogens9070575 www.mdpi.com/journal/pathogens
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