Zika virus can be venereally transmitted between Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Infection rates in Aedes aegypti females orally challenged with ZIKV and males contaminated by the venereal route

Mosquito population	ZIKV strain	Sex ratio female: male (insemination rate)^a	Female orally challenged		Male venereal transmission
Mosquito population	ZIKV strain	Sex ratio female: male (insemination rate)^a	n	IR (%)	n	IR (%)
Urca	RioU1	256:256 (90%)^b	30	63	110	0.9
	RioU1	37:19 (97%)^c	10	70	20	0
	PE243	76:76 (50%)^b	30	46	38	0
Goiânia	RioU1	90:45 (100%)^c	10	50	6	33.0

Abbreviations: n number of tested mosquitoes, IR infection rate referring to the proportion of mosquitoes with infected body among tested ones
^aInsemination rate is the proportion of females with spermathecal containing spermatozoids
^bContact for 30 h
^cContact for 5 days

ISSN: 1756-3305