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. 2016 Sep 1;21(35):30328.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.35.30328.

Experimental investigation of the susceptibility of Italian Culex pipiens mosquitoes to Zika virus infection

Daniela Boccolini  1 , Luciano Toma, Marco Di Luca, Francesco Severini, R Romi, Maria Elena Remoli, Michela Sabbatucci, Giulietta Venturi, Giovanni Rezza, Claudia Fortuna
Affiliations

Experimental investigation of the susceptibility of Italian Culex pipiens mosquitoes to Zika virus infection

Daniela Boccolini et al. Euro Surveill. .

Abstract

We investigated the susceptibility of an Italian population of Culex pipiens mosquitoes to Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, tested in parallel with Aedes aegypti, as a positive control. We analysed mosquitoes at 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 20 and 24 days after an infectious blood meal. Viral RNA was detected in the body of Cx. pipiens up to three days post-infection, but not at later time points. Our results indicate that Cx. pipiens is not susceptible to ZIKV infection.

Keywords: Ae aegypti; Cx pipiens; Italy; Zika virus; experimental infection; vector competence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

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