Deliberately infecting mosquitoes with zika virus

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Purposely infecting mosquitoes with zika virus to study them.

Viruses like Dengue, Chikungunya, Ebola and now Zika are all transmitted by mosquitoes and are intentionally brought to the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory near Vero Beach, all in the name of science.

“Trying to understand how the mosquito, and the environment and the virus interact with each other to determine susceptibility of infection and transmission of the virus,” said Dr. Barry Alto, Assistant Professor at the Florida Medical Entomology Lab.

The lab obtained a strain of the Zika-virus from Puerto Rico, which was supplied by the CDC.

Alto said, “We propagate Zika virus and other viruses in tissue culture, so we allow cells that are susceptible to the infection, we mix that with the blood, and then we administer infectious blood meals to the mosquitoes using an artificial membrane feeding system that works very well. We are deliberately infecting the mosquitoes.”

the Ebola Virus is handled in a level four, which is the most secure.

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living in zika zone Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote living in zika zone Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Deliberately infecting mosquitoes with zika virus Posted: September 04 2016 at 6:59pm
	Purposely infecting mosquitoes with zika virus to study them. Viruses like Dengue, Chikungunya, Ebola and now Zika are all transmitted by mosquitoes and are intentionally brought to the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory near Vero Beach, all in the name of science. “Trying to understand how the mosquito, and the environment and the virus interact with each other to determine susceptibility of infection and transmission of the virus,” said Dr. Barry Alto, Assistant Professor at the Florida Medical Entomology Lab. The lab obtained a strain of the Zika-virus from Puerto Rico, which was supplied by the CDC. Alto said, “We propagate Zika virus and other viruses in tissue culture, so we allow cells that are susceptible to the infection, we mix that with the blood, and then we administer infectious blood meals to the mosquitoes using an artificial membrane feeding system that works very well. We are deliberately infecting the mosquitoes.” the Ebola Virus is handled in a level four, which is the most secure.