Deformed wing virus type A, a major honey bee pathogen, is vectored by the mite Varroa destructor in a non-propagative manner.
F. Posada-Florez, A. K. Childers, M. C. Heerman, N. I. Egekwu, S. C. Cook, Y. P. Chen, J. D. Evans, E. V. Ryabov
This study shows that Deformed wing virus type A is transmitted by Varroa mites without replication in the mites, as viral load decreases after passage and negative-strand RNA is only detected in mites exposed to high viral loads.
bioRxiv · Jun 6, 2019Microbiology