Potential for mosquitoes in the United States to transmit Zika virus

寨卡病毒是一种蚊媒黄病毒，最初是在现在的乌干达的寨卡森林中分离出来的。为 几十年来，寨卡病毒并没有引起重大的流行病学担忧，偶尔会造成 非洲和东南亚爆发疫情，记录的人间病例寥寥无几。这一点在 2007年，非洲或亚洲以外的第一次疫情发生在密克罗尼西亚的雅普岛 大约有100-200例确诊或疑似病例。寨卡病毒不再是一种轻微的感染 仅限于非洲和亚洲-现在已被引入西半球， 自2015年5月以来，巴西记录到本土寨卡病毒传播，中部其他国家 和南美，在美国有250多例进口病例(截至2016年3月)。由于 世界卫生组织宣布，新观察到的与严重出生缺陷有关的因素 寨卡病毒是一种全球紧急情况，预计到2016年底约有300-400万病例。类似 对于登革热和基孔肯雅病毒，埃及伊蚊被认为是主要的媒介。 寨卡病毒。白纹伊蚊也被证明是一种高度有效的媒介。 实验室研究。然而，在5种蚊子中发现了超过25种寨卡病毒。 属。尽管在蚊子中检测到病毒并不是传播的证据，但这些研究强调 我们对这种新生病原体的传播生物学缺乏了解。一些人确认了 媒介物种(白纹伊蚊和埃及伊蚊)存在于美国，这些 仅媒介生物本身就有可能在美国部分地区爆发疫情，甚至局部传播。如果 其他本地或现有蚊子物种有能力传播寨卡病毒，该病毒可能 可能会进入美国，超出目前埃及伊蚊和白纹伊蚊的聚居地，类似于 观察到蚊虫和西尼罗河病毒入侵美国 在这一建议中，我们将(1)调查普遍、普遍的潜在的 美国存在传播寨卡病毒的蚊子种类和(2)调查地理 传播寨卡病毒的白纹伊蚊种群变异。积极主动地了解 北美蚊子区系在寨卡病毒传入流行病学中的潜在作用 病毒对于制定有效的寨卡病毒控制战略和风险是绝对关键的 美国的管理政策。

Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus first isolated in the Zika forest of what is now Uganda. For many decades, Zika virus was of no major epidemiological concern, causing occasional small outbreaks in Africa and Southeast Asia with only a handful of human cases recorded. This changed in 2007, when the first outbreak outside of Africa or Asia occurred on the island of Yap in Micronesia with approximately 100-200 confirmed or suspected cases. Zika virus is no longer a mild infection limited to Africa and Asia – it has now been introduced to the western hemisphere, with autochthonous Zika transmission documented in Brazil since May 2015, in other countries in central and south America, and over 250 imported cases in the United States (as of March 2016). Due to newly observed associations with major birth defects, the World Health Organization has declared Zika a global emergency and is estimating approximately 3-4 million cases by the end of 2016. Similar to dengue and Chikungunya viruses, the mosquito Aedes aegypti is thought to be the primary vector for Zika virus. Aedes albopictus has also been demonstrated to be a highly competent vector in laboratory studies. However, Zika virus has been detected in over 25 species of mosquitoes from 5 genera. Although detecting virus in a mosquito is not proof of transmission, these studies emphasize our lack of knowledge about the transmission biology of this emergent pathogen. Some identified vector species (Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti) are present in the United States and these vectors alone open the possibility of outbreaks and even local transmission in parts of the USA. If other native or established mosquito species are competent to transmit Zika, the virus could potentially move into the USA beyond areas currently colonized by aegypti and albopictus, similar to what was observed with the mosquito Culex tarsalis and the invasion of West Nile virus into the USA during the early 2000's. In this proposal, we will (1) investigate the potential for common, widespread mosquito species present in the United States to transmit Zika virus and (2) investigate geographic variation among Aedes albopictus populations to transmit Zika virus. Proactive knowledge about the potential role that North American mosquito fauna may play in the introduced epidemiology of Zika virus is absolutely critical for the development of efficient Zika virus control strategies and risk management policies in the USA.