Researchers at QUT and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute have found that the dengue fever mosquito common to north and central Queensland poses the greatest danger of spreading the Zika virus in Australia.
The researchers showed that not only was the dengue mosquito effective at transmitting Zika, but also that the virus was in the mosquitoes’ reproductive organs. This finding suggests that Zika could persist in mosquito populations by females passing it to their offspring.
QUT researcher Dr Frentiu said the discovery of Zika in the ovaries of the dengue mosquitoes indicated another potential route of infection transmission through mosquito populations.