SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SELECTED STRAINS OF AEDES-AEGYPTI AND AEDES-ALBOPICTUS (DIPTERA, CULICIDAE) TO CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS

The relative susceptibility of selected strains of Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) fed on a viremic monkey to infection with chikungunya virus was determined. Infection rates were consistently higher in 10 strains of Ae. albopictus tested than in 7 strains of Ae. aegypti tested, regardless of the geographic location from which the strains originated or the dose of virus ingested. Similarly, virus dissemination rates were higher in the Ae. albopictus strains compared with the Ae. aegypti strains. For nearly all (11 of 12) strains tested of both species, groups of mosquitoes with one or more females with a disseminated infection transmitted virus by bite to weanling mice. Based on these studies, Ae. albopictus appears to be a more competent laboratory vector of chikungunya virus than does Ae. aegypti.