Identification of <em>Wolbachia</em> Strains in Mosquito Disease Vectors

<div><p><em>Wolbachia</em> bacteria are common endosymbionts of insects, and some strains are known to protect their hosts against RNA viruses and other parasites. This has led to the suggestion that releasing <em>Wolbachia-</em>infected mosquitoes could prevent the transmission of arboviruses and other human parasites. We have identified <em>Wolbachia</em> in Kenyan populations of the yellow fever vector <em>Aedes bromeliae</em> and its relative <em>Aedes metallicus,</em> and in <em>Mansonia uniformis</em> and <em>Mansonia africana,</em> which are vectors of lymphatic filariasis. These <em>Wolbachia</em> strains cluster together on the bacterial phylogeny, and belong to bacterial clades that have recombined with other unrelated strains. These new <em>Wolbachia</em> strains may be affecting disease transmission rates of infected mosquito species, and could be transferred into other mosquito vectors as part of control programs.</p> </div

Prevalence of <i>Wolbachia</i> in mosquitoes from Kenya.

<p>The prevalence is shown with the 95% confidence interval in parentheses.</p