Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus: a potential vector to transmit Zika virus

Figures & data

Figure 1 Midgut, salivary gland and ovary ZIKV infection rates in Cx. p. quinquefasciatus at different days postexposure to the blood meal. Ten mosquitoes were sampled per day. The error bars represent the confidence intervals (95%). The number of individuals analyzed is given in parentheses. ZIKV, Zika virus.

Figure 2 Quantification of Zika viral RNA copies by real-time RT-PCR detected in the salivary glands (A), midguts (B) and ovaries (C) at different days postexposure. Each box represents the median (horizontal bar), the interquartile range (box) and the full range (‘whiskers’). RT-PCR, reverse transcription-PCR.

Table 1 Transmission rates of ZIKV in Cx. p. quinquefasciatus on days 6, 8, 12 and 16 postexposure to the blood meal (10 mosquitoes were sampled per day)

Day pe	Number of mosquito tested	Number of ZIKV-positive mosquito^a	Number of ZIKV-positive mosquitoes in salivary gland	Number of ZIKV-positive mosquitoes in saliva	TR of mosquito^b	TE of mosquito^c	ZIKV titer (/g RNA copies/mL) in saliva
6	10	9	7	0	0.0%	0.0%	—
8	10	10	9	8	80.0%	80.0%	4.90±0.56
12	10	2	1	1	50.0%	10.0%	3.88
16	10	6	2	0	0.0%	0.0%	—

Abbreviations: transmission efficiency, TE; transmission rate, TR; Zika virus, ZIKV.

^a Number of ZIKV-positive mosquitoes indicates the number of mosquitoes with infected midguts, salivary glands or ovaries. The virus can be detected in any organ means that this individual is virus positive.

^b TR of mosquito is calculated by dividing the number of mosquitoes with infected saliva by the number of mosquitoes with a disseminated infection (i.e., midgut-/salivary gland-/ovary-positive).

^c TE of mosquito is calculated by dividing the number of mosquitoes with infected saliva by the total number of mosquitoes tested.