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A common U.S. mosquito may transmit Zika virus, study says
BY KATIE WORTH, FRONTLINE March 7, 2016 at 10:40 AM EST
One of the most common mosquitoes in the United States may have the capacity to carry the Zika virus, according to preliminary research in Brazil.
...
The study was detailed by Constancia Ayres, a faculty member at the federal research institute Fiocruz Pernambuco in Recife, at a conference of scientists on Wednesday, and was greeted with both intrigue and caution.
Dr. Id? Gurgel, a researcher at the institute, called the discovery ?bombastic news? that could ?change everything.?
...
To Ayres, it seemed obvious to ask whether the Culex mosquito may also be carrying the disease: Culex quinquefasciatus, known in the U.S. as the southern common house mosquito, is even more common than Aedes aegypti in Brazil?s urban areas, she said. Both it and its close cousin, the Culex pipiens, are widespread throughout the U.S. and both can spread other diseases, such as West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis.
To explore their competence as a vector, Ayres fed 200 mosquitoes ? half Culex and half Aedes aegypti ? with Zika-infected blood. She tested 12 of them and found that each had been infected with the disease after a week. She also tested the viral load in their salivary glands ? an indication that the disease is being reproduced there and could transmit it through bites ? and found the Culex mosquitoes were reproducing it at an especially high level.
...
Told by email about Ayres? findings, Scott Weaver, scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory, responded that he was ?not completely surprised by these results.? But just because a mosquito can carry a disease does not decide whether it is ?an important vector,? he said. ?The main remaining question regarding Culex is how often they feed consecutively on humans, which is likely far less than (Aedes) aegypti,? he said.
Ayres said that if Culex mosquitoes prove to be a major vector, it would require an overhaul of mosquito control strategies: ?The strategies that we are using to control Aedes aegypti are useless for Culex because they are completely different species,? she said...
The U.S. would also have to worry more about Zika if Culex proves to be a vector, said U.C. Davis professor Walter Leal, a partner in Ayres?s research. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are mostly confined to warmer states, such as Florida, Texas and parts of California, whereas Culex are found everywhere.
?This is very bad luck for us in the U.S. if it proves correct,? said Leal. ?In America we think, OK, this virus is coming, people are getting sick, but it?s OK because we don?t have so much Aedes aegypti. But we have a lot of Culex.?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/a-common-u-s-mosquito-may-transmit-zika-virus-study-says/
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See also:
Brazilian experts found the Zika virus in the salivary glands of the 'common mosquito' (Culex), an indication that this species may also carry the disease
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...-that-this-species-may-also-carry-the-disease
BY KATIE WORTH, FRONTLINE March 7, 2016 at 10:40 AM EST
One of the most common mosquitoes in the United States may have the capacity to carry the Zika virus, according to preliminary research in Brazil.
...
The study was detailed by Constancia Ayres, a faculty member at the federal research institute Fiocruz Pernambuco in Recife, at a conference of scientists on Wednesday, and was greeted with both intrigue and caution.
Dr. Id? Gurgel, a researcher at the institute, called the discovery ?bombastic news? that could ?change everything.?
...
To Ayres, it seemed obvious to ask whether the Culex mosquito may also be carrying the disease: Culex quinquefasciatus, known in the U.S. as the southern common house mosquito, is even more common than Aedes aegypti in Brazil?s urban areas, she said. Both it and its close cousin, the Culex pipiens, are widespread throughout the U.S. and both can spread other diseases, such as West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis.
To explore their competence as a vector, Ayres fed 200 mosquitoes ? half Culex and half Aedes aegypti ? with Zika-infected blood. She tested 12 of them and found that each had been infected with the disease after a week. She also tested the viral load in their salivary glands ? an indication that the disease is being reproduced there and could transmit it through bites ? and found the Culex mosquitoes were reproducing it at an especially high level.
...
Told by email about Ayres? findings, Scott Weaver, scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory, responded that he was ?not completely surprised by these results.? But just because a mosquito can carry a disease does not decide whether it is ?an important vector,? he said. ?The main remaining question regarding Culex is how often they feed consecutively on humans, which is likely far less than (Aedes) aegypti,? he said.
Ayres said that if Culex mosquitoes prove to be a major vector, it would require an overhaul of mosquito control strategies: ?The strategies that we are using to control Aedes aegypti are useless for Culex because they are completely different species,? she said...
The U.S. would also have to worry more about Zika if Culex proves to be a vector, said U.C. Davis professor Walter Leal, a partner in Ayres?s research. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are mostly confined to warmer states, such as Florida, Texas and parts of California, whereas Culex are found everywhere.
?This is very bad luck for us in the U.S. if it proves correct,? said Leal. ?In America we think, OK, this virus is coming, people are getting sick, but it?s OK because we don?t have so much Aedes aegypti. But we have a lot of Culex.?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/a-common-u-s-mosquito-may-transmit-zika-virus-study-says/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See also:
Brazilian experts found the Zika virus in the salivary glands of the 'common mosquito' (Culex), an indication that this species may also carry the disease
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum...-that-this-species-may-also-carry-the-disease