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Johnson RM, Stopard IJ, Byrne HM, Armstrong PM, Brackney DE, Lambert B. Investigating the dose-dependency of the midgut escape barrier using a mechanistic model of within-mosquito dengue virus population dynamics. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1011975. [PMID: 38557892 PMCID: PMC11008821 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Arboviruses can emerge rapidly and cause explosive epidemics of severe disease. Some of the most epidemiologically important arboviruses, including dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Chikungunya (CHIKV) and yellow fever virus (YFV), are transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, most notably Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. After a mosquito blood feeds on an infected host, virus enters the midgut and infects the midgut epithelium. The virus must then overcome a series of barriers before reaching the mosquito saliva and being transmitted to a new host. The virus must escape from the midgut (known as the midgut escape barrier; MEB), which is thought to be mediated by transient changes in the permeability of the midgut-surrounding basal lamina layer (BL) following blood feeding. Here, we present a mathematical model of the within-mosquito population dynamics of DENV (as a model system for mosquito-borne viruses more generally) that includes the interaction of the midgut and BL which can account for the MEB. Our results indicate a dose-dependency of midgut establishment of infection as well as rate of escape from the midgut: collectively, these suggest that the extrinsic incubation period (EIP)-the time taken for DENV virus to be transmissible after infection-is shortened when mosquitoes imbibe more virus. Additionally, our experimental data indicate that multiple blood feeding events, which more closely mimic mosquito-feeding behavior in the wild, can hasten the course of infections, and our model predicts that this effect is sensitive to the amount of virus imbibed. Our model indicates that mutations to the virus which impact its replication rate in the midgut could lead to even shorter EIPs when double-feeding occurs. Mechanistic models of within-vector viral infection dynamics provide a quantitative understanding of infection dynamics and could be used to evaluate novel interventions that target the mosquito stages of the infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca M. Johnson
- Center for Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Entomology, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Isaac J. Stopard
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Helen M. Byrne
- Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Philip M. Armstrong
- Center for Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Entomology, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Douglas E. Brackney
- Center for Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Entomology, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Ben Lambert
- Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Turner EA, Christofferson RC. Exploring the transmission modalities of Bunyamwera virus. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2024; 249:10114. [PMID: 38510492 PMCID: PMC10954195 DOI: 10.3389/ebm.2024.10114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Bunyamwera virus (BUNV) (Bunyamwera orthobunyavirus) has been found in Sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrated recently as cocirculating with Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV). Little is known regarding the breadth of transmission modalities of Bunyamwera. Given its co-occurence with RVFV, we hypothesized the transmission system of BUNV shared similarities to the RVFV system including transmission by Ae. aegypti mosquitoes and environmentally mediated transmission through fomites and environmental contamination. We exposed Ae. aegypti mosquitoes to BUNV and evaluated their ability to transmit both vertically and horizontally. Further, we investigated the potential for a novel transmission modality via environmental contamination. We found that the LSU colony of Ae. aegypti was not competent for the virus for either horizontal or vertical transmission; but, 20% of larva exposed to virus via contaminated aquatic habitat were positive. However, transstadial clearance of the virus was absolute. Finally, under simulated temperature conditions that matched peak transmission in Rwanda, we found that BUNV was stable in both whole blood and serum for up to 28 days at higher total volume in tubes at moderate quantities (103-5 genome copies/mL). In addition, infectiousness of these samples was demonstrated in 80% of the replicates. At lower volume samples (in plates), infectiousness was retained out to 6-8 days with a maximum infectious titer of 104 PFU/mL. Thus, the potential for contamination of the environment and/or transmission via contaminated fomites exists. Our findings have implications for biosafety and infection control, especially in the context of food animal production.
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Rios FGF, Alves do Nascimento V, Naveca FG, Vieira DS, Julião GR. Arbovirus detection in synanthropic mosquitoes from the Brazilian Amazon and in mosquito saliva using Flinders Technology Associates cards. Microbes Infect 2023; 25:105046. [PMID: 36167274 DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2022.105046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2022] [Revised: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Although arbovirus transmission and identifying target vectors may provide a baseline for planning disease control strategies, there are many gaps in knowledge regarding these mosquitoes and viral species in urban, rural, or sylvatic habitats in the Brazilian Amazon. Our goal was to screen for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses in synanthropic mosquitoes and with Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) cards using insect saliva. Mosquitoes were caught using ovitraps and aspirators in the city of Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. Honey-baited FTA cards were placed in mosquito cages for 15 days; whole mosquitoes and FTA cards were analysed for viral RNA using RT-qPCR assays. One pool of Aedes aegypti females was found to be infected with the Zika virus and one male mosquito was infected with dengue-4, suggesting natural vertical/venereal transmission. Our study also reported evidence of vertical/venereal transmission of ZIKV in Culex quinquefasciatus males for the first time in the Brazilian Amazon, and the feasibility of using FTA cards to detect arboviruses in the saliva of field-collected mosquitoes. Vertical/venereal transmission of viruses by atypical mosquito species reinforces the need for combined viral and entomological screening in arbovirus surveillance programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flávia Geovana Fontineles Rios
- Laboratório de Entomologia I, Fiocruz Rondônia - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Lagoa, 76812-245, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental - PGBIOEXP, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia - UNIR, BR-364, km 9.5, 76801-059, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil.
| | - Valdinete Alves do Nascimento
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Doenças Transmissíveis na Amazônia, Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane - Fiocruz Amazônia, Adrianópolis, 69057-070, Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Manguinhos, 21040-360, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil
| | - Felipe Gomes Naveca
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Doenças Transmissíveis na Amazônia, Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane - Fiocruz Amazônia, Adrianópolis, 69057-070, Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia da Interação Patógeno-Hospedeiro, Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane - Fiocruz Amazônia, Adrianópolis, 69057-070, Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil
| | - Deusilene Souza Vieira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental - PGBIOEXP, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia - UNIR, BR-364, km 9.5, 76801-059, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil; Laboratório de Virologia Molecular, Fiocruz Rondônia - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Lagoa, 76812-245, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - INCT-EpiAmO, Lagoa, 76812-245, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil
| | - Genimar Rebouças Julião
- Laboratório de Entomologia I, Fiocruz Rondônia - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Lagoa, 76812-245, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental - PGBIOEXP, Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia - UNIR, BR-364, km 9.5, 76801-059, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - INCT-EpiAmO, Lagoa, 76812-245, Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil
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Christofferson RC, Wearing HJ, Turner EA, Walsh CS, Salje H, Tran-Kiem C, Cauchemez S. How do i bite thee? let me count the ways: Exploring the implications of individual biting habits of Aedes aegypti for dengue transmission. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2022; 16:e0010818. [PMID: 36194617 PMCID: PMC9565401 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In models of mosquito-borne transmission, the mosquito biting rate is an influential parameter, and understanding the heterogeneity of the process of biting is important, as biting is usually assumed to be relatively homogeneous across individuals, with time-between-bites described by an exponentially distributed process. However, these assumptions have not been addressed through laboratory experimentation. We experimentally investigated the daily biting habits of Ae. aegypti at three temperatures (24°C, 28°C, and 32°C) and determined that there was individual heterogeneity in biting habits (number of bites, timing of bites, etc.). We further explored the consequences of biting heterogeneity using an individual-based model designed to examine whether a particular biting profile determines whether a mosquito is more or less likely to 1) become exposed given a single index case of dengue (DENV) and 2) transmit to a susceptible human individual. Our experimental results indicate that there is heterogeneity among individuals and among temperature treatments. We further show that this results in altered probabilities of transmission of DENV to and from individual mosquitoes based on biting profiles. While current model representation of biting may work under some conditions, it might not uniformly be the best fit for this process. Our data also confirm that biting is a non-monotonic process with temperatures around 28°C being optimum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca C. Christofferson
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
- Center for Computation and Technology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Helen J. Wearing
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America
| | - Erik A. Turner
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Christine S. Walsh
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Henrik Salje
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 2000, Paris, France
| | - Cécile Tran-Kiem
- Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 2000, Paris, France
- Collège Doctoral, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Simon Cauchemez
- Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases Unit, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 2000, Paris, France
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Gloria-Soria A, Brackney DE, Armstrong PM. Saliva collection via capillary method may underestimate arboviral transmission by mosquitoes. Parasit Vectors 2022; 15:103. [PMID: 35331315 PMCID: PMC8944160 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05198-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) impose a major health and economic burden on human populations globally, with mosquitoes serving as important vectors. Measuring the ability of a mosquito population to transmit an arbovirus is important in terms of evaluating its public health risk. In the laboratory, a variety of methods are used to estimate arboviral transmission by mosquitoes, including indirect methods involving viral detection from mosquito saliva collected by forced salivation. The accuracy of indirect methods to estimate arbovirus transmission to live animal hosts has not been fully evaluated. METHODS We compared three commonly used proxies of arboviral transmission, namely, the presence of virus in mosquito legs, in salivary glands (SG) and in saliva collected in capillary tubes using forced salivation, with direct transmission estimates from mosquitoes to suckling mice. We analyzed five vector-virus combinations, including Aedes aegypti infected with chikungunya virus, West Nile virus and Zika virus; Culex quinquefasciatus infected with West Nile virus; and Aedes triseriatus infected with La Crosse virus. RESULTS Comparatively, the methods of detecting virus infection in mosquito legs and in SG were equally accurate in predicting transmission. Overall, the presence of virus in mosquito legs was a more accurate predictor of transmission than the commonly implemented viral detection method using forced salivation into a capillary tube, and was subject to less technical variation. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that, in general, forced salivation methods tend to underestimate virus transmission, and they provide confidence in the use of mosquito leg screens to evaluate the transmission potential of a mosquito population.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. Gloria-Soria
- Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06504 USA
| | - D. E. Brackney
- Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06504 USA
| | - P. M. Armstrong
- Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases, Department of Environmental Sciences, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06504 USA
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