Science, November 20, 2020
Fabien Aubry, Stéphanie Dabo, Caroline Manet, Igor Filipović, Noah H. Rose, Elliott F. Miot, Daria Martynow, Artem Baidaliuk, Sarah H. Merkling, Laura B. Dickson, Anna B. Crist, Victor O. Anyango, Claudia M. Romero-Vivas, Anubis Vega-Rúa, Isabelle Dusfour, Davy Jiolle, Christophe Paupy, Martin N. Mayanja, Julius J. Lutwama, Alain Kohl, Veasna Duong, Alongkot Ponlawat, Massamba Sylla, Jewelna Akorli, Sampson Otoo, Joel Lutomiah, Rosemary Sang, John-Paul Mutebi, Van-Mai Cao Lormeau, Richard G. Jarman, Cheikh T. Diagne, Oumar Faye, Ousmane Faye, Amadou A. Sall, Carolyn S. McBride, Xavier Montagutelli, Gordana Rašić, Louis Lambrechts
Abstract
The drivers and patterns of zoonotic virus emergence in the human population are poorly understood. The mosquito Aedes aegypti is a major arbovirus vector native to Africa that invaded most of the world’s tropical belt over the past four centuries, after the evolution of a “domestic” form that specialized in biting humans and breeding in water storage containers.
In this report, the authors show that the human specialization and subsequent spread of A. aegypti out of Africa were accompanied by an increase in its intrinsic ability to acquire and transmit the emerging human pathogen Zika virus. Thus, the recent evolution and global expansion of A. aegypti promoted arbovirus emergence not solely through increased vector-host contact but also as a result of enhanced vector susceptibility.