Models of pathogen transmission by mosquitoes have long assumed that mosquito mortality is independent of age. The finding of age-dependent patterns of mortality in large (n>100,000) laboratory and field populations of Aedes aegypti have led to the reevaluation of this assumption and the realization that it is important to include mosquito age as a critical component of quantitative models. Although there is now significant evidence that mosquito mortality increases with age, very little is known about how other components of a mosquito’s life cycle change with age and how these changes may affect predictions of population structure and pathogen transmission. Models currently assume that the ability of mosquitoes to acquire or transmit pathogens remains constant with age. Using Ae. aegypti, we are currently testing this hypothesis by examining female mosquitoes of three age classes (4, 20, and 40 days old) that were allowed to feed on dengue virus (DEN-2) infected blood. Their infection status and ability to transmit dengue virus will be recorded after one of three incubation periods (10, 20 and 30 days). We will model the effect of age-dependent changes in dengue virus vector competence on predictions of pathogen transmission. An improved understanding of the effect of mosquito age on pathogen acquisition and transmission is crucial if we are to develop new, more realistic models for the transmission of dengue and other mosquito-borne pathogens.
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