Impact of irradiation on vector competence of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus for DEN and CHIK viruses

CAA Centro Agricoltura Ambiente > Meetings partecipations > Entomologia e Zoologia Sanitarie > Impact of irradiation on vector competence of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus for DEN and CHIK viruses

Balestrino F., J. Bouyer, M.J.B. Vreysen and E. Veronesi

Xth EMCA International Conference,
3-7 October 2021, Vienna, Austria

Effective control strategies against arthropod vectors are the most powerful tool to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases.
The sterile insect technique, an effective and sustainable genetic control method for the management of key insect pests of agricultural and medical/veterinary importance, has demonstrated effective population reduction in several field trials against Aedes vectors species in different ecological settings. Although mechanical mosquito sex separation techniques are of high efficiency, a small percentage of females can be accidentally released together with the males with a short-term risk of increased biting rate and arboviral disease transmission. In this study, we compared the dissemination and transmission rates for dengue and chikungunya viruses among Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females exposed to 40 Gy radiation by a TrueBeam linear accelerator at pupal stage. Females from both species were fed on blood spiked with either dengue and chikungunya viruses and body parts tested by real-time RT-PCR at different time points. Irradiation did not impact dissemination and transmission for dengue and chikungunya when orally exposed to these viruses. Further implications of these results on the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases in the field are discussed.

 

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