<i>Wolbachia</i> strain <i>w</i> AlbB maintains high density and dengue inhibition following introduction into a field population of <i>Aedes aegypti</i>

Abstract

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying the w AlbB Wolbachia strain show a reduced capacity to transmit dengue virus. w AlbB has been introduced into wild Ae. aegypti populations in several field sites in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where it has persisted at high frequency for more than 2 years and significantly reduced dengue incidence. Although these encouraging results indicate that w AlbB releases can be an effective dengue control strategy, the long-term success depends on w AlbB maintaining high population frequencies and virus transmission inhibition, and both could be compromised by Wolbachia– host coevolution in the field. Here, w AlbB-carrying Ae. aegypti collected from the field 20 months after the cessation of releases showed no reduction in Wolbachia density or tissue distribution changes compared to a w AlbB laboratory colony. The w AlbB strain continued to induce complete unidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility, showed perfect maternal transmission under laboratory conditions, and retained its capacity to inhibit dengue. Additionally, a field-collected w AlbB line was challenged with Malaysian dengue patient blood, and showed significant blocking of virus dissemination to the salivary glands. These results indicate that w AlbB continues to inhibit currently circulating strains of dengue in field populations of Ae. aegypti , and provides additional support for the continued scale-up of Wolbachia wAlbB releases for dengue control. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Novel control strategies for mosquito-borne diseases’.