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A Method For Repeated, Longitudinal Sampling Of Individual Aedes Aegypti For Transmission Potential Of Arboviruses, E. Handly Mayton, Heather Hernandez, Christopher Vitek, Rebecca C. Christofferson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mosquito-borne viruses are the cause of significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Assessing risk for viral transmission often involves characterization of the vector competence of vector–virus pairings. The most common determination of vector competence uses discreet, terminal time points, which cannot be used to investigate variation in transmission aspects, such as biting behavior, over time. Here, we present a novel method to longitudinally measure individual biting behavior and Zika virus (ZIKV) transmission. Individual mosquitoes were exposed to ZIKV, and from 9 to 24 days post-exposure, individuals were each offered a 180 μL bloodmeal every other …