The wMel strain of Wolbachia Reduces Transmission of Zika virus by Aedes aegypti

ABSTRACT: Zika virus (ZIKV) is causing an explosive outbreak of febrile disease in the Americas. There are no effective antiviral therapies or licensed vaccines for this virus and mosquito control strategies have not been adequate to contain the virus. A promising candidate for arbovirus control and prevention relies on the introduction of the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This primarily has been proposed as a tool to control dengue virus (DENV) transmission; however, evidence suggests Wolbachia infections confer protection for Ae. aegypti against other arboviruses. At present, it is unknown whether or not ZIKV can infect, disseminate and be transmitted by Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti. Using Ae. aegypti infected with the wMel strain of Wolbachia that are being released in Medellin, Colombia, we report that these mosquitoes have reduced vector competence for ZIKV. These results support the use of Wolbachia biocontrol as a multivalent strategy against Ae. aegypti-transmitted viruses.

• Autores: Vélez Bernal, Iván Darío; Peinado, Stephen; Osorio Benitez, Jorge Emilio; Aliota, Matthew T.
• Tipo de recurso: Investigation report
• Fecha de publicación: 2016
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/36547
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/10495/36547
• Palabra clave: Aedes; Chlorocebus aethiops; Interacciones Huésped-Patógeno; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Insectos Vectores; Insect Vectors; Control Biológico de Vectores; Pest Control, Biological; Células Vero; Vero Cells; Wolbachia; Infección por el Virus Zika; Zika Virus Infection; Virosis; Virus Diseases
• Rights: openAccess
• License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/