Detection of Zika virus in Anopheles stephensi Liston, 1901 (Diptera: Culicidae) in India - First report

Zika virus (ZIKV) a mosquito-borne, causing acute febrile illness associated with rash, arthralgia and conjunctivitis in the patient, was reported from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, as an outbreak with 83 cases. Entomological surveillance revealed the presence of aedine mosquitoes viz., Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762), Ae. albopictus (Skuse, 1894) and Ae. vittatus (Bigot, 1861) and nonaedine mosquitoes viz., Anopheles stephensi Liston,1901, Mansonia uniformis (Theobald, 1901), Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles, 1901 and Cx. gelidus Theobald,1901. Aedes (Ae. aegypti, Ae. vittatus and Ae. Albopictus) mosquito larvae were high in the Zika affected areas. Moreover ZIKV was detected in An. stephensi mosquitoes collected from Parassala, Thiruvananthapuram (the native place of the first ZIKV confirmed case in the present outbreak in Kerala). Molecular diagnostics of Ae. Aegypti, Ae. vittatu and An. stephensi mosquitoes revealed that the species were loaded with ZIKV. Significantly this is the first ever report of ZIKV detecting in An. stephensi in the world. Aedes adults (male and female) and An. stephensi emerged from fourth instar larvae and pupae were found to have ZIKV, indicating transovarial transmission of the virus.