Enhanced Zika virus susceptibility of globally invasive Aedes aegypti populations

Fabien Aubry (1) , Stéphanie Dabo (1) , Caroline Manet (2) , Igor Filipović (3) , Noah H. Rose (4) , Elliott F. Miot (1, 5) , Daria Martynow (1) , Artem Baidaliuk (1, 5) , Sarah H. Merkling (1) , Laura B. Dickson (1) , Anna B. Crist (1) , Victor O. Anyango (1) , Claudia M. Romero-Vivas (6) , Anubis Vega-Rúa (7) , I. Dusfour (8) , Davy Jiolle (9, 10) , Christophe Paupy (9, 10) , Martin N. Mayanja (11) , Julius J. Lutwama (11) , Alain Kohl (12) , Veasna Duong (13) , Alongkot Ponlawat (14) , Massamba Sylla (15) , Jewelna Akorli (16) , Sampson Otoo (16) , Joel Lutomiah (17) , Rosemary Sang (17) , John-Paul Mutebi (18) , Van-Mai Cao-Lormeau (19) , Richard G. Jarman (20) , Cheikh T. Diagne (21) , Oumar Faye (21) , Ousmane Faye (21) , Amadou A. Sall (21) , Carolyn S. Mcbride (4) , Xavier Montagutelli (2) , Gordana Rašić (3) , Louis Lambrechts (1)

1 IVI - Interactions Virus-Insectes - Insect-Virus Interactions
2 Génétique de la souris - Mouse Genetics
3 QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
4 Princeton University
5 Collège Doctoral
6 Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla
7 TReD-Path - Unité Transmission, Réservoir et Diversité des Pathogènes [Pasteur Guadeloupe, France]
8 Vectopôle Amazonien Emile Abonnenc [Cayenne, Guyane française]
9 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle
10 CIRMF - Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville
11 UVRI - Uganda Virus Research Institute
12 MRC - University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
13 Unité de Virologie / Virology Unit [Phnom Penh]
14 AFRIMS - Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences [Bangkok]
15 UCAD - Université Cheikh Anta Diop [Dakar, Sénégal]
16 University of Ghana
17 KEMRI - Kenya Medical Research Institute
18 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
19 ILM - Institut Louis Malardé [Papeete]
20 Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
21 Arbovirus et Virus de Fièvres Hémorragiques [Dakar, Sénégal]

The drivers and patterns of zoonotic virus emergence in the human population are poorly understood. The mosquito Aedes aegypti is a major arbovirus vector native to Africa that invaded most of the world’s tropical belt over the past four centuries, after the evolution of a “domestic” form that specialized in biting humans and breeding in water storage containers. Here, we show that human specialization and subsequent spread of A. aegypti out of Africa were accompanied by an increase in its intrinsic ability to acquire and transmit the emerging human pathogen Zika virus. Thus, the recent evolution and global expansion of A. aegypti promoted arbovirus emergence not solely through increased vector–host contact but also as a result of enhanced vector susceptibility.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Fabien Aubry, Stéphanie Dabo, Caroline Manet, Igor Filipović, Noah H. Rose, et al.. Enhanced Zika virus susceptibility of globally invasive Aedes aegypti populations. Science, 2020, 370 (6519), pp.991-996. ⟨10.1126/science.abd3663⟩. ⟨pasteur-03260288⟩