Estimating the effects of variation in viremia on mosquito susceptibility, infectiousness, and R0 of Zika in Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arbovirus primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Like most viral infections, ZIKV viremia varies over several orders of magnitude, with unknown consequences for transmission. To determine the effect of viral concentration on ZIKV transmission risk, we exposed field-derived Ae. aegypti mosquitoes to four doses (103, 104, 105, 106 PFU/mL) representative of potential variation in the field. We demonstrate that increasing ZIKV dose in the blood-meal significantly increases the probability of mosquitoes becoming infected and infectious, as well as the rate at which virus spreads to the saliva, but found no effect on dissemination efficiency or mosquito mortality. We also demonstrate that determining infection using RT-qPCR approaches rather than plaque assays potentially over-estimates key pathogen parameters, including the time at which mosquitoes become infectious and viral burden. Finally, using these data to parameterize an R0 model, we demonstrate that variation in viremia substantially affects transmission risk.