Electrical engineering

Biology

Gene

Host (biology)

Engineering

Virology

Larva

Ecology

Immunology

Biting

Aedes aegypti

Insect bites and stings

Dengue virus

Recombinant DNA

Vector (molecular biology)

Dengue fever

Biochemistry

Transmission (telecommunications)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Because dengue viruses are spread by mosquitoes during biting, transmission capacity depends on mosquito-biting behavior. For this reason, it is critical to understand how infection in mosquitoes influences biting. To answer this question, we deployed a multidisciplinary approach including high-resolution, multivariate biting behavior monitoring on mice, in vivo transmission assay, and mathematical modeling. We demonstrated that infected mosquitoes are more attracted to mice and bite more often to get the same amount of blood as uninfected mosquitoes. While the effect of increased attraction to host on transmission capacity is trivial, we showed that increased number of bites results in successive transmission. Eventually, we calculated that the infection-induced behavior changes tripled transmission capacity of mosquitoes.

Dengue virus infection modifies mosquito blood-feeding behavior to increase transmission to the host