Transient Introgression of Wolbachia into Aedes aegypti Populations Does Not Elicit an Antibody Response to Wolbachia Surface Protein in Community Members

is an endosymbiotic bacterium that can restrict the transmission of human pathogenic viruses by mosquitoes. Recent field trials have shown that dengue incidence is significantly reduced when is introgressed into the local population. Female are anautogenous and feed on human blood to produce viable eggs. Herein, we tested whether people who reside on Tri Nguyen Island (TNI), Vietnam developed antibodies to Surface Protein (WSP) following release of -infected , as a measure of exposure to . Paired blood samples were collected from 105 participants before and after mosquito releases and anti-WSP titres were measured by ELISA. We determined no change in anti-WSP titres after ~30 weeks of high levels of - on TNI. These data suggest that humans are not exposed to the major surface antigen, WSP, following introgression of -infected mosquitoes.