Rocha MN, Duarte MM, Mansur SB et al., Feb 2019, Gates Open Research

In this study‚ two recently isolated YFV (primate and human) were used to challenge field-derived wild-type and Wolbachia-infected (wMel +) Ae. aegypti mosquitoes. The study found that Wolbachia was able to significantly reduce the prevalence of mosquitoes with YFV infected heads and thoraces for both viral isolates. Furthermore‚ analyses of mosquito saliva‚ through indirect injection into naïve mosquitoes or via interferon-deficient mouse model‚ indicated Wolbachia was associated with profound reduction in the YFV transmission potential of mosquitoes (14dpf). The results suggest that Wolbachia introgression could be used as a complementary strategy for prevention of urban yellow fever transmission‚ along with the human vaccination program.