The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is an important vector of a number of arboviruses, including Zika (ZIKV), dengue (DENV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses, and has recently expanded its range in the eastern United States to southern New England and New York. Given the recent establishment and proliferation of Ae. albopictus in this region and the increasing amount of international travel between the United States and endemic countries, there is a need to elucidate the public health risk posed by this mosquito species in the Northeast. Accordingly, we evaluated the competence of four Ae. albopictus populations from Connecticut and New York, for two strains each of ZIKV, DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2), and CHIKV, currently circulating in the Americas, to evaluate the local transmission risk by this vector. We found that local Ae. albopictus populations are susceptible to infection by all three viruses but are most capable of transmitting CHIKV. Variation in competence was observed for ZIKV and CHIKV, driven by the virus strains and mosquito population, whereas competence was more homogeneous for the DENV-2 strains under evaluation. These results suggest that under optimal circumstances, Ae. albopictus could support localized transmission of these viruses and emphasize the importance of maintaining mosquito surveillance and control programs to suppress Ae. albopictus populations and limit further range expansion of this species.

Background: Vector-borne pathogens must survive and replicate in the hostile environment of an insect’s midgut before successful dissemination. Midgut microbiota interfere with pathogen infection by activating the basal immunity of the mosquito and by synthesizing pathogen-inhibitory metabolites. Methods: The goal of this study was to assess the influence of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and increased temperature on Aedes albopictus midgut microbiota. Aedes albopictus were reared at diurnal temperatures of day 28 °C/night 24 °C (L) or day 30 °C/night 26 °C (M). The mosquitoes were given infectious blood meals with 2.0 × 10⁸ PFU/ml ZIKV, and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on midguts at 7 days post-infectious blood meal exposure. Results: Our findings demonstrate that Elizabethkingia anophelis albopictus was associated with Ae. albopictus midguts exposed to ZIKV infectious blood meal. We observed a negative correlation between ZIKV and E. anophelis albopictus in the midguts of Ae. albopictus. Supplemental feeding of Ae. albopictus with E. anophelis aegypti and ZIKV resulted in reduced ZIKV infection rates. Reduced viral loads were detected in Vero cells that were sequentially infected with E. anophelis aegypti and ZIKV, dengue virus (DENV), or chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the influence of ZIKV infection and temperature on the Ae. albopictus microbiome along with a negative correlation between ZIKV and E. anophelis albopictus. Our results have important implications for controlling vector-borne pathogens. Graphical