Researchers at QUT and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that the dengue fever mosquito common to north and central Queensland poses the greatest danger of spreading the Zika virus in Australia.
Researchers at QUT and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that the dengue fever mosquito common to north and central Queensland poses the greatest danger of spreading the Zika virus in Australia.
The researchers showed that not only was the dengue mosquito effective at transmitting Zika, but also that the virus was in the mosquitoes’ reproductive organs. This finding suggests that Zika could persist in mosquito populations by females passing it to their offspring.
The researchers’ study has been published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Key points:
- People can contract Zika from the bite of a female mosquito carrying the virus.
- A woman infected with Zika can pass the virus to her unborn child causing neurological problems including microcephaly, when the brain does not develop properly and the baby has a smaller than normal head.
- While more than 50 cases of Zika have been reported in Australia, all were contracted overseas.
Read more at Queensland University of Technology
Image: A cup of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes feeding on a blood and virus mixture in the QIMR Berghofer Biosecurity insectary. (Credit: QIMR Berghofer)
