Infection of a French Population of Aedes albopictus and of Aedes aegypti (Paea Strain) with Zika Virus Reveals Low Transmission Rates to These Vectors' Saliva.

Disease caused by the Zika virus (ZIKV) is a public health emergency of international concern. Recent epidemics have emerged in different regions of the world and attest to the ability of the virus to spread wherever its vector, species mosquitoes, can be found. We have compared the transmission of ZIKV by (PAEA strain originating from Tahiti) and by a French population of to better assess their competence and the potential risk of the emergence of ZIKV in Europe. We assessed the transmission of ZIKV by in temperatures similar to those in Southern France during the summer. Our study shows that the extrinsic incubation period of for transmission was shorter than that of . Both vectors were able to transmit ZIKV from 10 to 14 days post-infection. , however, had a longer transmission period than the French population of . Although the salivary glands of both vectors are highly infected, transmission rates of ZIKV to saliva remain relatively low. These observations may suggest that the risk of emergence of ZIKV in Europe could be low.