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4 March 2021 Susceptibility of Midge and Mosquito Vectors to SARS-CoV-2
Velmurugan Balaraman, Barbara S. Drolet, Natasha N. Gaudreault, William C. Wilson, Jeana Owens, Dashzeveg Bold, Dustin A. Swanson, Dane C. Jasperson, Leela E. Noronha, Juergen A. Richt, Dana N. Mitzel
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Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a recently emerged, highly contagious virus and the cause of the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is a zoonotic virus, although its animal origin is not clear yet. Person-to-person transmission occurs by inhalation of infected droplets and aerosols, or by direct contact with contaminated fomites. Arthropods transmit numerous viral, parasitic, and bacterial diseases; however, the potential role of arthropods in SARS-CoV-2 transmission is not fully understood. Thus far, a few studies have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 replication is not supported in cells from certain insect species nor in certain species of mosquitoes after intrathoracic inoculation. In this study, we expanded the work of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility to biting insects after ingesting a SARS-CoV-2-infected bloodmeal. Species tested included Culicoides sonorensis (Wirth & Jones) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) biting midges, as well as Culex tarsalis (Coquillett) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae), all known biological vectors for numerous RNA viruses. Arthropods were allowed to feed on SARS-CoV-2-spiked blood and at a time point postinfection analyzed for the presence of viral RNA and infectious virus. Additionally, cell lines derived from C. sonorensis (W8a), Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Culicidae) (C6/36), Cx. quinquefasciatus (HSU), and Cx. tarsalis (CxTrR2) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility. Our results indicate that none of the biting insects, nor the insect cell lines evaluated support SARS-CoV-2 replication, suggesting that these species are unable to be biological vectors of SARS-CoV-2.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2021. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
Velmurugan Balaraman, Barbara S. Drolet, Natasha N. Gaudreault, William C. Wilson, Jeana Owens, Dashzeveg Bold, Dustin A. Swanson, Dane C. Jasperson, Leela E. Noronha, Juergen A. Richt, and Dana N. Mitzel "Susceptibility of Midge and Mosquito Vectors to SARS-CoV-2," Journal of Medical Entomology 58(4), 1948-1951, (4 March 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab013
Received: 25 September 2020; Accepted: 7 January 2021; Published: 4 March 2021
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KEYWORDS
midges
mosquito
SARS-CoV-2
susceptibility
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