Document Type
Article
Journal Title
Nature Communications
Publication Date
2017
Volume
8
Abstract
The recent emergence of both chikungunya and Zika viruses in the Americas has significantly expanded their distribution and has thus increased the possibility that individuals may become infected by more than one Aedes aegypti-borne virus at a time. Recent clinical data support an increase in the frequency of coinfection in human patients, raising the likelihood that mosquitoes could be exposed to multiple arboviruses during one feeding episode. The impact of coinfection on the ability of relevant vector species to transmit any of these viruses (that is, their vector competence) has not been determined. Thus, we here expose Ae. aegypti mosquitoes to chikungunya, dengue-2 or Zika viruses, both individually and as double and triple infections. Our results show that these mosquitoes can be infected with and can transmit all combinations of these viruses simultaneously. Importantly, infection, dissemination and transmission rates in mosquitoes are only mildly affected by coinfection.
DOI Link
ISSN
2041-1723
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Rückert, Claudia; Weger-Lucarelli, James; Garcia-Luna, Selene M.; Young, Michael C.; Byas, Alex D.; Murrieta, Reyes A.; Fauver, Joseph R.; and Ebel, Gregory D., "Impact of Simultaneous Exposure to Arboviruses on Infection and Transmission by Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes" (2017). Journal Articles: Epidemiology. 78.
https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_epidem_articles/78