AUTHOR=Alomar Abdullah A. , Eastmond Bradley H. , Rapti Zoi , Walker Edward D. , Alto Barry W. 

TITLE=Ingestion of spinosad-containing toxic sugar bait alters Aedes albopictus vector competence and vectorial capacity for dengue virus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.933482

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.933482

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Dengue virus (DENV) is one of the most prevalent vector-borne viruses that causes life-threatening illness to humans worldwide. Development tool to control vector population has potential to reduce the burden of DENV. Toxic sugar bait (TSB) provides a form of vector control that takes advantage of sugar feeding behavior of adults. However, studies on the effect of ingestion of toxins in TSB on vector competence and vectorial capacity for viruses are lacking. This study evaluated vector competence for DENV serotype-1 of Aedes albopictus at 7 and 14 days post ingestion of TSB formulated with spinosad (of bacteria origin) as an oral toxin. Our results and others were modeled to estimate effects on Ae. albopictus vectorial capacity for DENV. Ingestion of TSB caused reduction of survival of females, but increased mosquito susceptibility to DENV infection, disseminated infection, and transmission. However, this increase in vector competence was obviated by the reduction in survival, leading to a lower predicted vectorial capacity. The findings of this study highlight the importance of evaluating the net impact of TSB ingestion on epidemiological parameters of vectorial capacity in the context of vector control efforts to reduce risk of transmission of vector-borne viruses.