PLoS ONE (Jan 2009)

Aedes albopictus mosquito: the main vector of the 2007 Chikungunya outbreak in Gabon.

  • Frédéric Pagès,
  • Christophe N Peyrefitte,
  • Médard Toung Mve,
  • Fanny Jarjaval,
  • Sylvain Brisse,
  • Isabelle Iteman,
  • Patrick Gravier,
  • Hugues Tolou,
  • Dieudonné Nkoghe,
  • Marc Grandadam

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0004691
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 3
p. e4691

Abstract

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The primary vector at the origin of the 2007 outbreak in Libreville, Gabon is identified as Aedes albopictus, trapped around the nearby French military camp. The Chikungunya virus was isolated from mosquitoes and found to be identical to the A226V circulating human strain. This is the first field study showing the role of the recently arrived species Aedes albopictus in Chikungunya virus transmission in Central Africa, and it demonstrates this species' role in modifying the epidemiological presentation of Chikungunya in Gabon.