Abe halts US base construction in Okinawa for now

Research indicates another common mosquito may be able to carry Zika

RIO DE JANEIRO: Research by scientists in Brazil indicates that a mosquito more common than the one primarily known to transmit Zika infections may possibly be able to carry the virus, a development that could further complicate efforts to limit its spread.

The mosquito species Aedes aegypti has been identified as the main transmitter of Zika infections, which have been linked to thousands of birth defects as the virus spreads rapidly in Brazil and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

But the scientists in Brazil announced on Wednesday that they were able to infect another species, Culex quinquefasciatus, with the virus in a laboratory, raising concerns that Zika could be carried by a species more prevalent than Aedes aegypti.

They said much more research is needed to learn whether the Culex mosquitoes can transmit Zika infections.

In Brazil, Culex quinquefasciatus is 20 times more common than Aedes aegypti, the researchers said.

The research, conducted by scientists at the governmentfunded Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in the northeastern city of Recife, is part of an ongoing trial in which researchers injected 200 of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes with rabbit blood infected by Zika.

The virus, they said, circulated through the mosquitoes’ bodies and into their salivary glands, meaning they might be able to transmit a Zika infection by biting a person.

“We saw an ease of infection and an ease of dissemination of the virus to the salivary glands,” Constancia Ayres, the lead scientist in the study, told Globo, Brazil’s leading television network.

Public health authorities have cited Aedes aegypti as the mosquito overwhelming responsible for spreading Zika, with another species of the same genus, Aedes albopictus, also transmitting the virus in smaller numbers.

There has been evidence about other mosquitoes linked to Zika.

For example, researchers have found more than 20 mosquito species carrying the virus in Africa, although it was unclear whether they all transmit the disease effectively to humans.

The Brazilian research has yet to be published in a scientific journal or reviewed by scientific peers elsewhere. — AFP