Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project

Thomas Obadia (1, 2) , Gladys Gutierrez-Bugallo (3, 4) , Veasna Duong (5) , Ana Nuñez (6) , Rosilainy Fernandes (7) , Basile Kamgang (8) , Liza Hery (4) , D. Jiolle (9) , Célestine Atyame (10) , Yann Gomard (10) , Sandra Abbo (11) , Uros Glavinic (12) , Myrielle Dupont-Rouzeyrol (13) , Nicolas Pocquet (14) , Sébastien Boyer (5) , Catherine Dauga (15) , Marie Vazeille (15) , André Yébakima (16) , Michael T White (2) , Constantianus Koenraadt (11) , Patrick Mavingui (10) , Ricardo Lourenço-De-Oliveira (7) , Anubis Vega-Rua (4) , Eva Veronesi (12) , Gorben Pijlman (11) , Christophe Paupy (9) , Núria Busquets (6) , Xavier de Lamballerie (17) , Anna-Bella Failloux (15)

1 Hub Bioinformatique et Biostatistique - Bioinformatics and Biostatistics HUB
2 Epidémiologie et Analyse des Maladies Infectieuses - Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Analytics
3 Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine
4 Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe
5 Institut Pasteur du Cambodge
6 CReSA - Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal [UAB, Spain]
7 IOC - Instituto Oswaldo Cruz / Oswaldo Cruz Institute [Rio de Janeiro]
8 CRID - Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases [Yaoundé]
9 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle
10 PIMIT - Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical
11 WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
12 UZH - Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich
13 Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie
14 URE-EM - Entomologie médicale [Nouméa, Nouvelle-Calédonie]
15 Arbovirus et Insectes Vecteurs - Arboviruses and Insect Vectors
16 VECCOTRA
17 UVE - Unité des Virus Emergents

First identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti , and secondarily, Aedes albopictus , both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses. Here, we show that Ae. aegypti is mainly responsible for Zika virus transmission having the highest susceptibility to viral infections. Other species play a secondary role in transmission while Culex mosquitoes are largely non-susceptible. Zika strain is expected to significantly modulate transmission efficiency with African strains being more likely to cause an outbreak. As the distribution of Ae. aegypti will doubtless expand with climate change and without new marketed vaccines, all the ingredients are in place to relive a new pandemic of Zika.

Domains: Santé publique et épidémiologie

Thomas Obadia, Gladys Gutierrez-Bugallo, Veasna Duong, Ana Nuñez, Rosilainy Fernandes, et al.. Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project. Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (1), pp.4490. ⟨10.1038/s41467-022-32234-y⟩. ⟨pasteur-03744692⟩