Development of a cheap and simple artificial feeding device for studying dengue virus transmission in Aedes aegypti mosquito at the resource-poor setups
Author(s): Indrani Dhar, Tahmina Akther, Kabirul Bashar, Shahina Tabassum, Abdul Jabber Howlader and Saif Ullah Munshi
Abstract: Background & Objectives: Adult female
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes require blood for development of their eggs to replenish their offspring. During blood feeding, ingestion of pathogens can occur which transmits the pathogens to the host during subsequent blood feeding. To study transmission and pathogen growth in mosquitoes, different feeding systems are utilized which includes live animals or feeding devices. These artificial systems are expensive and have several difficulties. In this study, a cheap and simplified artificial feeding device was developed to study pathogen transmission in the resource-poor setups and tested for its effectiveness.
Methods: An artificial feeding device comprises a “feeding container†and a “siphon†was developed using household and general laboratory materials. To test the effectiveness, the feeding device was examined and compared with a natural feeding method using pigeon. The transmissibility of dengue virus in Aedes aegypti was evaluated using the device after ingestion of infectious blood followed by detection of Dengue virus in mosquitoes using Real-time PCR.
Results & Conclusions: Feeding rate, fecundity and hatchability rates of Aedes aegypti using the feeding device observed in present study were same as the natural feeding method (p > 0.05). Dengue virus RNA could detect in 50% of Aedes aegypti mosquito pools. Besides the effective performance of the device, this newly developed device is made from house hold materials which made the device very inexpensive and user-friendly. It is anticipated that in resource-poor set up this device can be used with minor improvisations to study pathogen transmission in mosquitoes.
Fig.: Schematic drawing of the two-chambered blood feeding device offered to
Ae. Aegypti female mosquitoes. (a) Water (40OC) inlet tube (IT), (b) Parafilm membrane, (c) Mosquito net mesh (d)Heating chamber (HC), (e) Hot water (~ 37OC OC) (f) blood chamber (BC), (g) Water outlet tube (OT), (h) paper cup with mosquitoes covered with mosquito net mesh
How to cite this article:
Indrani Dhar, Tahmina Akther, Kabirul Bashar, Shahina Tabassum, Abdul Jabber Howlader, Saif Ullah Munshi. Development of a cheap and simple artificial feeding device for studying dengue virus transmission in Aedes aegypti mosquito at the resource-poor setups. Int J Mosq Res 2019;6(5):57-62.