title: Experimental transmission of Chikungunya virus by Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes.
abstract: The Ades aegypti mosquito has been considered the principal vector of Chikungunya (CHIK) virus. As CHIK epidemics usually occur in urban regions and Anopheles stephensi is another highly endophilic and anthropophilic mosquito, there is a very high probability of this mosquito to feed on CHIK virus-infected patients, to pick up and transmit the virus. Therefore the present study was conducted to test the CHIK virus transmission capability for the A. stephensi mosquito. The obtained results showed that this mosquito species is capable of transmitting CHIK virus. It is surmised that during any epidemic of febrile illness CHIK virus isolation attempts should also be made from this mosquito species.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Containment Complex, National Institute of Virology, Indian Council of Medical Research, Sus Road, Pashan, Pune 411 021, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gokhale
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Barde
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Mourya
mesh_terms: D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007303:Insect Vectors; D051379:Mice; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction