Wolbachia bacteriumWIKIMEDIA, SCOTT O'NEILLA growing body of research suggests infections with the Wolbachia bacterium can prevent mosquitoes from transmitting Zika and other viruses. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues reported today (July 1) in Scientific Reports that Wolbachia can reduce the likelihood that Aedes aegypti mosquitoes will contract Zika from infected mice. And a team from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues yesterday (June 30) reported a method for detecting the bacterium’s presence in mosquitoes using near-infrared spectroscopy, in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
“Our findings are complementary to results described earlier in the month in Cell Host & Microbe by our colleagues with [Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation], which is really exciting and really promising,” Matthew Aliota of University of Wisconsin--Madison, coauthor of the Scientific Reports study, said in a statement, referring to a study published in May.
Aliota and colleagues allowed mosquitoes—some of which were infected with a strain of Wolbachia called wMel—to feed on Zika-infected mice. Another group of infected and uninfected mosquitoes was allowed to feed on a membrane spiked with Zika-infected sheep’s blood.
Compared with the Wolbachia-free insects, the wMel-infected mosquitoes were less likely to become infected with Zika from the viral blood, and those that did become infected were likely to transmit the virus ...
