Transovarial transmission of chikungunya virus by Aedes albopictus mosquitoes ingesting microfilariae of Dirofilaria immitis under laboratory conditions.

Female Aedes albopictus mosquitoes of the Miki strain were experimentally fed on defibrinated sheep blood containing 5 x 10(7) PFU of chikungunya virus and 20,000 microfilariae of Dirofilaria immitis per milliliter. Fully engorged mosquitoes transmitted the virus to a small percentage of the F1 progeny, but females of the F1 generation did not transmit the virus to the F2 progeny. The control mosquitoes that ingested the virus without microfilariae did not transmit the virus to their eggs, larvae, or pupae in the F1 or F2 generations. These results showed that A. albopictus of this strain that concurrently ingested the virus and microfilariae transmitted the virus by the transovarial route under experimental conditions.