Experimental studies of susceptibility of Italian Aedes albopictus to Zika virus

TLDR

The study examined vector competence of an Italian Aedes albopictus population for Zika virus. Italian Aedes albopictus were infected in 10% of mosquitoes, with 29% dissemination and 29% transmission after 11 days, indicating lower vector competence than a parallel Ae. aegypti colony.

Abstract

We report a study on vector competence of an Italian population of Aedes albopictus for Zika virus (ZIKV). Ae. albopictus was susceptible to ZIKV infection (infection rate: 10%), and the virus could disseminate and was secreted in the mosquito's saliva (dissemination rate: 29%; transmission rate: 29%) after an extrinsic incubation period of 11 days. The observed vector competence was lower than that of an Ae. aegypti colony tested in parallel.