Differential Transmission of Antiviral Drug-Resistant Chikungunya Viruses by Aedes Mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT: The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted by female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, mostly present in (sub)tropical regions. No antivirals are available to treat CHIKV infections. If antiviral drugs are proven efficient to treat CHIKV-infected patients, it will be pivotal to determine whether drug-resistant viruses can be transmitted from one human to another by their mosquito vectors. We orally infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with a blood meal containing wild-type or drug-resistant CHIKV variants (i.e., MADTP^res CHIKV, with mutation in the nsP1 gene, and T-705^res CHIKV, with mutation in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase [RdRp] gene). Viral loads were quantified in bodies (infection), heads (dissemination), and saliva (transmiss

SUBMITTER: Delang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6106055 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature