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PARTNER N° |
37 |
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NAME OF INSTITUTION |
University of Zürich (UZH) |
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE TEAM |
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The Vector Entomology Unit of the University of Zürich was launched in 2007 and it focuses on experimental and descriptive research on various aspects of arthropod vectors (vector competence, bionomics, spatio-temporal distribution, molecular identification by PCR and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, physiology), particularly of indigenous insects such as Culicoides, mosquitoes, sand flies, Phortica fruit flies but also of the invasive Asian bush mosquito. The Unit acts as the Swiss National Centre for Vector Entomology, as appointed by the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO).
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KEY CONTACT PERSON(S) |
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Key scientific contact person 1 (Team leader) |
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Name |
Eva Veronesi |
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Photo |
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Position in the Institution |
Senior Scientists, PhD |
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Email address |
eva.veronesi@uzh.ch |
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Phone number |
+41 44 635 85 32 |
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Mobile phone number |
+41 798220883 |
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Postal address |
Winterthurestrasse 266a 8057 Zürich Switzerland
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Role in the Consortium |
WP: 6 |
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Task: 6.2 |
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Sub-task: 6.2.2 European invasive and autochtonous mosquitoes |
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Role: The study here proposed will investigate the role of field-collected Ae. japonicus in the potential transmission of ZIKV under constant and realistic ‘mid-summer’ temperature regime (average, hot spells) in Central Europe. Several vector competence indices from virus inoculated mosquitoes will be investigated: infection (virus presence in the midgut) and rate (n. infected guts/total number inoculated female); dissemination (virus presence in secondary mosquito tissues e.g. head, legs, thorax) and rate (n. infected secondary tissues/total number females with infection); and transmission virus presence in the saliva and its rate (n. positive saliva females/n. disseminated females). Ae. japonicus from Switzerland will be collected as immature stages and obtained adults will be experimentally orally infected with two genotypes of ZIKV (Asian and African). Two major questions addressed are: 1) Susceptibility of field-collected Ae. japonicus to oral infection with two genotypes of ZIKV (Asian and African). 2) Effect of temperature on ZIKV dissemination and transmission among Ae. japonicus |
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