Biology & Life Sciences

Vectors

Published May 31, 2018 Curated Collections

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the first journal dedicated to chronic and poverty-promoting infectious diseases, has long been a home for vector research. With this collection, we aim to curate the cutting edge of vector research from the global NTDs community. Check out our latest vector research here, grouped by theme below.

Image Credit: Image Credit: Image generated by Felipe Guhl

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Opening Editorial
Molecular Aspects of Vector Transmission Biology
Elimination
Emerging Vectors
Vector Competence for Arboviruses and Spread
Insecticide Resistance
Translational Research
Modeling
Climate Effects
Microbiota

Opening Editorial

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Image Credit: Image generated by Felipe Guhl

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Impact of vector biology research on old and emerging neglected tropical diseases
May 31, 2018 Jesus Valenzuela, Serap Aksoy

Molecular Aspects of Vector Transmission Biology

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006204

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Rapid autophagic regression of the milk gland during involution is critical for maximizing tsetse viviparous reproductive output
January 31, 2018 Joshua B. Benoit, Veronika Michalkova, Elise M. Didion, Yanyu Xiao, Aaron A. Baumann, Geoffrey M. Attardo, Serap Aksoy
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006243

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases An insight into the salivary gland and fat body transcriptome of Panstrongylus lignarius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), the main vector of Chagas disease in Peru
February 20, 2018 Jessica C. Nevoa, Maria T. Mendes, Marcos V. da Silva, Siomar C. Soares, Carlo J. F. Oliveira, José M. C. Ribeiro
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006382

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Refractoriness of Sergentomyia schwetzi to Leishmania spp. is mediated by the peritrophic matrix
April 4, 2018 Jovana Sadlova, Miroslav Homola, Jitka Myskova, Magdalena Jancarova, Petr Volf
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006410

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Sialome diversity of ticks revealed by RNAseq of single tick salivary glands
April 13, 2018 Jan Perner, Sára Kropáčková, Petr Kopáček, José M. C. Ribeiro
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006413

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Insulin receptor knockdown blocks filarial parasite development and alters egg production in the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus
April 12, 2018 Andrew Bradley Nuss, Mark R. Brown, Upadhyayula Suryanarayana Murty, Monika Gulia-Nuss
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006507

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Silencing of RpATG6 impaired the yolk accumulation and the biogenesis of the yolk organelles in the insect vector R. prolixus
May 16, 2018 Priscila H. Vieira, Larissa Bomfim, Georgia C. Atella, Hatisaburo Masuda, Isabela Ramos
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006186

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Multifaceted functional implications of an endogenously expressed tRNA fragment in the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti
January 24, 2018 Matthew W. Eng, Anthony Clemons, Casey Hill, Roberta Engel, David W. Severson, Susanta K. Behura
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006010

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Characterization of the Zika virus induced small RNA response in Aedes aegypti cells
October 17, 2017 Margus Varjak, Claire L. Donald, Timothy J. Mottram, Vattipally B. Sreenu, Andres Merits, Kevin Maringer, Esther Schnettler, Alain Kohl
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006152

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Individual co-variation between viral RNA load and gene expression reveals novel host factors during early dengue virus infection of the Aedes aegypti midgut
December 19, 2017 Vincent Raquin, Sarah Hélène Merkling, Valérie Gausson, Isabelle Moltini-Conclois, Lionel Frangeul, Hugo Varet, Marie-Agnès Dillies, Maria-Carla Saleh, Louis Lambrechts
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005654

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Mosquito co-infection with Zika and chikungunya virus allows simultaneous transmission without affecting vector competence of Aedes aegypti
June 1, 2017 Giel P. Göertz, Chantal B. F. Vogels, Corinne Geertsema, Constantianus J. M. Koenraadt, Gorben P. Pijlman
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005760

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Zika virus alters the microRNA expression profile and elicits an RNAi response in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
July 17, 2017 Miguel A. Saldaña, Kayvan Etebari, Charles E. Hart, Steven G. Widen, Thomas G. Wood, Saravanan Thangamani, Sassan Asgari, Grant L. Hughes

Elimination

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005651

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Community effectiveness of pyriproxyfen as a dengue vector control method: A systematic review
July 17, 2017 Dorit Maoz, Tara Ward, Moody Samuel, Pie Müller, Silvia Runge-Ranzinger, Joao Toledo, Ross Boyce, Raman Velayudhan, Olaf Horstick
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005848

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases The elimination of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti, from Brisbane, Australia: The role of surveillance, larval habitat removal and policy
August 28, 2017 Brendan J. Trewin, Jonathan M. Darbro, Cassie C. Jansen, Nancy A. Schellhorn, Myron P. Zalucki, Tim P. Hurst, Gregor J. Devine

Emerging Vectors

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006397

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Body lice of homeless people reveal the presence of several emerging bacterial pathogens in northern Algeria
April 17, 2018 Meriem Louni, Nassima Mana, Idir Bitam, Mustapha Dahmani, Philippe Parola, Florence Fenollar, Didier Raoult, Oleg Mediannikov
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006143

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Understanding the legal trade of cattle and camels and the derived risk of Rift Valley Fever introduction into and transmission within Egypt
January 19, 2018 Sebastian Napp, Veronique Chevalier, Núria Busquets, Paolo Calistri, Jordi Casal, Mohamed Attia, Rehab Elbassal, Heba Hosni, Hatem Farrag, Noura Hassan, Rasha Tawfik, Sohair Abd Elkader, Shahin Bayomy

Vector Competence for Arboviruses and Spread

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006248

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Host preferences support the prominent role of Hyalomma ticks in the ecology of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
February 8, 2018 Jessica R. Spengler, Agustin Estrada-Peña
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006009

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Genome-wide SNPs reveal the drivers of gene flow in an urban population of the Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus
October 18, 2017 Thomas L. Schmidt, Gordana Rašić, Dongjing Zhang, Xiaoying Zheng, Zhiyong Xi, Ary A. Hoffmann
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005933

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Zika virus: An updated review of competent or naturally infected mosquitoes
November 16, 2017 Yanouk Epelboin, Stanislas Talaga, Loïc Epelboin, Isabelle Dusfour
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005751

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Urbanization is a main driver for the larval ecology of Aedes mosquitoes in arbovirus-endemic settings in south-eastern Côte d’Ivoire
July 13, 2017 Julien B. Z. Zahouli, Benjamin G. Koudou, Pie Müller, David Malone, Yao Tano, Jürg Utzinger
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005718

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Multiple introductions of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti, into California
August 10, 2017 Evlyn Pless, Andrea Gloria-Soria, Benjamin R. Evans, Vicki Kramer, Bethany G. Bolling, Walter J. Tabachnick, Jeffrey R. Powell
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005294

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases European Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens Are Competent Vectors for Japanese Encephalitis Virus
January 13, 2017 Mélissanne de Wispelaere, Philippe Desprès, Valérie Choumet
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005623

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Northern range expansion of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): Analysis of mosquito data from Connecticut, USA
May 18, 2017 Philip M. Armstrong, Theodore G. Andreadis, John J. Shepard, Michael C. Thomas
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005653

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Tracking the return of Aedes aegypti to Brazil, the major vector of the dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses
July 25, 2017 Panayiota Kotsakiozi, Andrea Gloria-Soria, Adalgisa Caccone, Benjamin Evans, Renata Schama, Ademir Jesus Martins, Jeffrey R. Powell
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005724

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Transmission risk of two chikungunya lineages by invasive mosquito vectors from Florida and the Dominican Republic
July 27, 2017 Barry W. Alto, Keenan Wiggins, Bradley Eastmond, Daniel Velez, L. Philip Lounibos, Cynthia C. Lord
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005860

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Vector competence of populations of Aedes aegypti from three distinct cities in Kenya for chikungunya virus
August 18, 2017 Sheila B. Agha, Edith Chepkorir, Francis Mulwa, Caroline Tigoi, Samwel Arum, Milehna M. Guarido, Peris Ambala, Betty Chelangat, Joel Lutomiah, David P. Tchouassi, Michael J. Turell, Rosemary Sang
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005667

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Peridomestic Aedes malayensis and Aedes albopictus are capable vectors of arboviruses in cities
June 26, 2017 Ian H. Mendenhall, Menchie Manuel, Mahesh Moorthy, Theodore T. M. Lee, Dolyce H. W. Low, Dorothée Missé, Duane J. Gubler, Brett R. Ellis, Eng Eong Ooi, Julien Pompon
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005698

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases High risk for chikungunya virus to initiate an enzootic sylvatic cycle in the tropical Americas
June 29, 2017 Ricardo Lourenço-de-Oliveira, Anna-Bella Failloux

Insecticide Resistance

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005954

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Pyrethroid resistance alters the blood-feeding behavior in Puerto Rican Aedes aegypti mosquitoes exposed to treated fabric
September 20, 2017 Natasha M. Agramonte, Jeffrey R. Bloomquist, Ulrich R. Bernier
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005799

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Insecticide resistance is mediated by multiple mechanisms in recently introduced Aedes aegypti from Madeira Island (Portugal)
July 24, 2017 Gonçalo Seixas, Linda Grigoraki, David Weetman, José Luís Vicente, Ana Clara Silva, João Pinto, John Vontas, Carla Alexandra Sousa
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006192

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Polymorphisms in voltage-gated sodium channel gene and susceptibility of Aedes albopictus to insecticides in three districts of northern West Bengal, India
January 8, 2018 Moytrey Chatterjee, Sudeep Ballav, Ardhendu K. Maji, Nandita Basu, Biplab Chandra Sarkar, Pabitra Saha
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005656

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Deltamethrin resistance in Aedes aegypti results in treatment failure in Merida, Mexico
June 12, 2017 Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, Anuar Medina-Barreiro, Azael Che-Mendoza, Felipe Dzul-Manzanilla, Fabian Correa-Morales, Guillermo Guillermo-May, Wilbert Bibiano-Marín, Valentín Uc-Puc, Eduardo Geded-Moreno, José Vadillo-Sánchez, Jorge Palacio-Vargas, Scott A. Ritchie, Audrey Lenhart, Pablo Manrique-Saide
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2017 Moyes et al.

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Contemporary status of insecticide resistance in the major Aedes vectors of arboviruses infecting humans
July 20, 2017 Catherine L. Moyes, John Vontas, Ademir J. Martins, Lee Ching Ng, Sin Ying Koou, Isabelle Dusfour, Kamaraju Raghavendra, João Pinto, Vincent Corbel, Jean-Philippe David, David Weetman
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005917

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Local selection in the presence of high levels of gene flow: Evidence of heterogeneous insecticide selection pressure across Ugandan Culex quinquefasciatus populations
October 3, 2017 Walter Fabricio Silva Martins, Craig Stephen Wilding, Keith Steen, Henry Mawejje, Tiago Rodrigues Antão, Martin James Donnelly

Translational Research

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006142

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases A highly stable blood meal alternative for rearing Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes
December 29, 2017 Ted Baughman, Chelsea Peterson, Corrie Ortega, Sarah R. Preston, Christopher Paton, Jessica Williams, Amy Guy, Gavin Omodei, Brian Johnson, Helen Williams, Scott L. O’Neill, Scott A. Ritchie, Stephen L. Dobson, Damian Madan
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005683

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Mosquitoes on a plane: Disinsection will not stop the spread of vector-borne pathogens, a simulation study
July 3, 2017 Luis Mier-y-Teran-Romero, Andrew J. Tatem, Michael A. Johansson
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005245

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases MosqTent: An individual portable protective double-chamber mosquito trap for anthropophilic mosquitoes
March 9, 2017 José Bento Pereira Lima, Allan Kardec Ribeiro Galardo, Leonardo Soares Bastos, Arthur Weiss da Silva Lima, Maria Goreti Rosa-Freitas
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005837

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Community effectiveness of indoor spraying as a dengue vector control method: A systematic review
August 31, 2017 Moody Samuel, Dorit Maoz, Pablo Manrique, Tara Ward, Silvia Runge-Ranzinger, Joao Toledo, Ross Boyce, Olaf Horstick
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005881

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Quality control methods for Aedes albopictus sterile male production
September 11, 2017 Fabrizio Balestrino, Arianna Puggioli, Marco Carrieri, Jérémy Bouyer, Romeo Bellini
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006093

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Assessment of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for filariae detection in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
December 20, 2017 Djamel Tahir, Lionel Almeras, Marie Varloud, Didier Raoult, Bernard Davoust, Philippe Parola
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005762

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Molecular and MALDI-TOF identification of ticks and tick-associated bacteria in Mali
July 24, 2017 Adama Zan Diarra, Lionel Almeras, Jean-Michel Berenger, Abdoulaye K. Koné, Zakaria Bocoum, Abdoulaye Dabo, Ogobara Doumbo, Didier Raoult, Philippe Parola, Maureen Laroche
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006265

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases A natural agonist of mosquito TRPA1 from the medicinal plant Cinnamosma fragrans that is toxic, antifeedant, and repellent to the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti
February 9, 2018 Edna Alfaro Inocente, Marguerite Shaya, Nuris Acosta, L. Harinantenaina Rakotondraibe, Peter M. Piermarini

Modeling

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006514

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases The human-snail transmission environment shapes long term schistosomiasis control outcomes: Implications for improving the accuracy of predictive modeling
May 21, 2018 David Gurarie, Nathan C. Lo, Martial L. Ndeffo-Mbah, David P. Durham, Charles H. King
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005956

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Epidemiological consequences of immune sensitisation by pre-exposure to vector saliva
October 9, 2017 Tsukushi Kamiya, Megan A. Greischar, Nicole Mideo
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005785

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases An economic evaluation of vector control in the age of a dengue vaccine
August 14, 2017 Christopher Fitzpatrick, Alexander Haines, Mathieu Bangert, Andrew Farlow, Janet Hemingway, Raman Velayudhan
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005918

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Effectiveness and economic assessment of routine larviciding for prevention of chikungunya and dengue in temperate urban settings in Europe
September 11, 2017 Giorgio Guzzetta, Filippo Trentini, Piero Poletti, Frederic Alexandre Baldacchino, Fabrizio Montarsi, Gioia Capelli, Annapaola Rizzoli, Roberto Rosà, Stefano Merler, Alessia Melegaro
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005568

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Detecting the impact of temperature on transmission of Zika, dengue, and chikungunya using mechanistic models
April 27, 2017 Erin A. Mordecai, Jeremy M. Cohen, Michelle V. Evans, Prithvi Gudapati, Leah R. Johnson, Catherine A. Lippi, Kerri Miazgowicz, Courtney C. Murdock, Jason R. Rohr, Sadie J. Ryan, Van Savage, Marta S. Shocket, Anna Stewart Ibarra, Matthew B. Thomas, Daniel P. Weikel

Climate Effects

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005640

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Fine-scale variation in microclimate across an urban landscape shapes variation in mosquito population dynamics and the potential of Aedes albopictus to transmit arboviral disease
May 30, 2017 Courtney C. Murdock, Michelle V. Evans, Taylor D. McClanahan, Kerri L. Miazgowicz, Blanka Tesla
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006063

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Darker eggs of mosquitoes resist more to dry conditions: Melanin enhances serosal cuticle contribution in egg resistance to desiccation in Aedes, Anopheles and Culex vectors
October 30, 2017 Luana C. Farnesi, Helena C. M. Vargas, Denise Valle, Gustavo L. Rezende
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005828

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Local environmental and meteorological conditions influencing the invasive mosquito Ae. albopictus and arbovirus transmission risk in New York City
August 23, 2017 Eliza Little, Waheed Bajwa, Jeffrey Shaman
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006236

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Forecasting the spatial and seasonal dynamic of Aedes albopictus oviposition activity in Albania and Balkan countries
February 12, 2018 Clément Tisseuil, Silvia Bino, Perparim Kadriaj, Kujtim Mersini, Ada Shukullari, Artan Simaku, Elton Rogozi, Beniamino Caputo, Els Ducheyne, Alessandra della Torre, Paul Reiter, Marius Gilbert, Enkelejda Velo

Microbiota

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10.1371/journal.pntd.0005947

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases How does competition among wild type mosquitoes influence the performance of Aedes aegypti and dissemination of Wolbachia pipientis?
October 9, 2017 Suellen de Oliveira, Daniel Antunes Maciel Villela, Fernando Braga Stehling Dias, Luciano Andrade Moreira, Rafael Maciel de Freitas
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10.1371/journal.pntd.0006050

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases Wolbachia effects on Rift Valley fever virus infection in Culex tarsalis mosquitoes
October 30, 2017 Brittany L. Dodson, Elizabeth S. Andrews, Michael J. Turell, Jason L. Rasgon