Aedes mosquitoes in California may pass on the Zika virus, experts report.
Laboratory studies have shown that many species of Aedes mosquitoes may transmit Zika, but whether the same species in various regions could pass on the virus was unclear. Zika is a comparatively mild illness for many people, but it could cause devastating birth defects in kids born to women who are infected during pregnancy.
In this new study, researchers infected California Aedes aegypti, Culex tarsalis and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes with three different strains of Zika. One was from a 2015 Puerto Rico outbreak, one from a 2015 Brazil outbreak, and the 3rd was from a 1966 Malaysian outbreak.
The mosquitoes fed on mice infected with the Zika strains and were afterwards assessed to determine if indeed they could transmit the virus.
The researchers didn't identify Zika in the saliva of either Culex mosquito species 14 and 21 days after infection. Nevertheless, 85 to 90 percent of the Aedes mosquitoes got evidence of Zika in their saliva, and rates were similar for all three strains.
The analysis was published June 21 in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
"Understanding the mosquito species that vector [Zika] is very important to estimating regional outbreak potential and for informing neighborhood mosquito control strategies," said experts Lark Coffey and Chris Barker, from the University of California, Davis.
"Vector control initiatives targeting [Zika] should remain centered on lowering urban Aedes populations," they added in a journal news release.
