Low oral receptivity for dengue type 2 viruses of Aedes albopictus from Southeast Asia compared with that of Aedes aegypti.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever has been a major health problem in Asia since the 1950s. During this period, the former principal vector of dengue viruses in Asia, Aedes albopictus, was replaced by Aedes aegypti in most major cities of the area. Ae. aegypti is now considered the main vector of dengue viruses in Asia. Surprisingly, however, this mosquito has been described as having a relatively low oral receptivity for dengue viruses compared with Ae. albopictus. In the present study, we compared the relative oral receptivities of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus collected in southeast Asia from both sympatric and allopatric breeding sites. In all instances, the oral receptivity of Ae. aegypti to the dengue type 2 virus used was significantly higher than that of Ae. albopictus. We also compared the relative oral receptivity of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus for two other low-passage strains of dengue 2. In all instances, Ae. aegypti was significantly more receptive than Ae. albopictus. It should be noted, however, that the difference was found only for Ae. albopictus recently collected from the field (Ta Promh strain, Cambodia, 2001) and not for an Ae. albopictus strain that had been colonized for many years (Oahu strain, Hawaii, 1971). We also observed a significant increase in the infection rate of Ae. albopictus of the Ta Promh strain with increasing generations in the laboratory. These observations demonstrate the importance of considering the colonization history of mosquitoes when assessing their susceptibility to infection with dengue viruses and, perhaps, other arboviruses.