Detailed Analyses of Zika Virus Tropism in Culex quinquefasciatus Reveal Systemic Refractoriness.

ABSTRACT: The role of Culex quinquefasciatus in Zika virus transmission has been debated since the epidemic of Zika occurred in the Americas in 2015 to 2016. The majority of studies have found no evidence that C. quinquefasciatus or other Culex species are competent vectors of Zika virus, and the few studies that have proposed Zika vector status for C. quinquefasciatus have relied predominantly on quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) for viral detection. We assessed the infectious range of pre- and post-epidemic Zika virus isolates in order to classify mosquito samples based on titer infectiousness and demonstrated that two strains of C. quinquefasciatus, including one previously found to be competent, are highly resistant to infection with these Zika isolates comp

SUBMITTER: MacLeod HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7439479 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature