Experts from the Brazilian Fiocruz Institute release Aedes aegypti infected mosquitoes … [+]
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On 9 October 2019, French authorities received disturbing news. A case of Zika virus has been reported in Hyeres – a town considered to be the original French Riviera – located on the Mediterranean coast between Marseille and Nice.
RESEARCH
What has left the French authorities even more baffled is that the person who tested positive did not have a travel history to countries where the Zika virus is endemic. Shortly afterwards, two additional native cases of the Zika virus were identified in Hyeres.
As it turned out, the Asian tiger mosquito or Ae.albopictus he was responsible for these matters in France. Originating from Southeast Asia, it thrives in all inhabited continents, including central Europe. Unlike the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which is renowned as the main vector of Zika Virus, Ae.albopictus can withstand harsh winters.
This species of mosquito also actively destroys populations of Ae.aegypti in areas where both live together due to competitive advantages at the larval level.
From the reported cases in France, scientists have been studying whether or not an Asian tiger mosquito can be a major threat for large-scale Zika viral infections. In a recent study published in the journal, PLOS Pathogens, Albin Fontaine of the Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées, and colleagues examined this issue. Their study showed that the epileptic potential of Zika virus is low but pre-existing on Asian tiger mosquitoes.
The Zika virus is the latest emerging disease worldwide. The virus was first introduced in 1947 from a rhesus monkey in the Zika forest in Uganda. Since then, it first appeared in Gabon in Central Africa in 2007 and in the Federated States of Micronesia.
The virus then spread to the Pacific Islands from 2013 to 2014. Shortly afterwards, it appeared in Brazil where it began to quickly spread a major revolution to 50 regions and countries in America.
Although most cases are asymptomatic, they can be related to severe complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome or congenital microcephaly / fetal loss.
Asian tiger mosquito populations are known to cause chikungunya and dengue viruses, but their role in the spread of the Zika virus is unclear. In their study, the researchers assessed the susceptibility of these mosquito populations in Marseille and La Réunion Island (a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean) for Zika virus infection.
They exposed 227 and 175 female mosquitoes from Marseille and La Réunion Island respectively to the oral Zika virus.
After shaping the dynamics of Zika virus infection within individuals and using epidemiological simulations, the researchers found that these female mosquitoes had the highest risk of transmission at a pre-existing level. -symbolism of the disease. At this dose, the probability of mosquito infection was estimated to be 20%, and 21 days were required to reach moderate levels of systemic disease.
RESEARCH
Despite these unfavorable characteristics for distribution, Ae. albopictus it was still able to induce a large outbreak in a symbolic environment in the presence of sufficiently high mosquito densities and feeding levels. According to the authors, active monitoring and eradication programs should be implemented in the inhabited areas. Ae. albopictus or the Asian tiger mosquitoes to maintain the low risk of Zika virus outbreak.