Minimum infectious dose for chikungunya virus in Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT

Understanding the ability of the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) to be transmitted by Aedes vectors in the Americas is critical for assessing epidemiological risk. One element that must be considered is the minimum infectious dose of virus that can lead to transmission following the extrinsic incubation period. This study aimed to determine the minimum infection rate for the two Aedes species studied. The results revealed that doses as low as 3.9 log10 plaque-forming units per mL (pfu/mL) of an Asian genotype CHIKV strain can lead to transmission by Ae. albopictus, and doses of at least 5.3 log10 pfu/mL from the same strain are needed for transmission from Ae. aegypti. These low infecting doses suggest that infected individuals may be infectious for almost the entire period of their viremia, and therefore, to prevent further cases, measures should be taken to prevent them from getting bitten by mosquitoes during this period.