Arboviruses: How Saliva Impacts the Journey from Vector to Host

Abstract

Arthropod-borne viruses, referred to collectively as arboviruses, infect millions of people worldwide each year and have the potential to cause severe disease. They are predominately transmitted to humans through blood-feeding behavior of three main groups of biting arthropods: ticks, mosquitoes, and sandflies. The pathogens harbored by these blood-feeding arthropods (BFA) are transferred to animal hosts through deposition of virus-rich saliva into the skin. Sometimes these infections become systemic and can lead to neuro-invasion and life-threatening viral encephalitis. Factors intrinsic to the arboviral vectors can greatly influence the pathogenicity and virulence of infections, with mounting evidence that BFA saliva and salivary proteins can shift the trajectory of viral infection in the host. This review provides an overview of arbovirus infection and ways in which vectors influence viral pathogenesis. In particular, we focus on how saliva and salivary gland extracts from the three dominant arbovirus vectors impact the trajectory of the cellular immune response to arbovirus infection in the skin.

Keywords: immune enhancement; mosquito; skin; viral infection.

Figure 1

Virus families and common arthropod vectors of viral disease.

Figure 2

Sandfly, mosquito, and tick feeding methods and mouthparts. Each vector employs a feeding style influenced by the arrangement of their mouthparts. Saliva (shown in yellow) is secreted into the skin by each of the three arthropod vectors.