Diawo Diallo; Amadou A. Sall; Cheikh T. Diagne; Oumar Faye; Ousmane Faye; Yamar Ba; Kathryn A. Hanley; Michaela Buenemann; Scott C. Weaver; Mawlouth Diallo

“ Deforestation for cultivation, gold mining and human habitations is progressively reducing the natural vegetation in the area. The mosquito sampling protocol was extensively described by Diallo et al. [16] . Briefly, an area of 1,650 km2 (30 km in N–S direction; 55 km in E–W direction) of the Kédougou region was divided into ten blocks. In each block, 5 different land cover classes (forest, barren, savannah, agriculture and village) were mapped using remote sensing. ”

“ Table 1 "Temporal dynamics of biting, infection and entomological inoculation rates of potential Zika virus vectors, Kédougou, 2011. (10.1371/journal.pone.0109442.t001) "Mean biting rate (number of mosquito females captured per person, per evening) ; *Minimum infection rate (estimated number of positive mosquitoes per 1000 mosquitoes tested) ; for each species minimum infection rates with an asterisk are statistically significantly higher than species with an asterisk; Entomologic inoculation rate (number of infected mosquito bites per person, per evening) . ”

“ In southeastern Senegal, more than 400 ZIKV strains have been isolated from mosquitoes, mainly from Ae. africanus, Ae. luteocephalus, Ae. furcifer, and Ae. taylori. Infection of seven humans and two nonhuman primates (Chlorocebus sabaeus, Erythrocebus patas) were detected by virus isolation. Serological studies conducted in the same region in 1988 and 1990 have shown that 10.1 and 2.8% of humans had IgM antibodies against ZIKV [2] .
In 2008, a research program was initiated to investigate the mechanisms of sylvatic transmission of arboviruses in Kédougou, southeastern Senegal. ”

“ They were housed in a light/temperature/humidity-controlled environment: 12-h light–dark cycle, temperature 22°C and 50% humidity and had ad libitum access to food and water. There is no way to detect pain or distress in newborn mice.
Study area and Mosquito Sampling The study was conducted in the Kédougou region (Figure 1 and Table S1) of southeastern Senegal (12°33′ N, 12°11′ W) ; the environment, climate, and socioeconomic conditions of this region, which lies in a transition zone between the dry tropical forest and the savanna belt, has been described in detail elsewhere [16] . ”

“ The study protocol was carefully explained to the chief and inhabitants of each village investigated to obtain their informed oral consent. Informed oral consent was also obtained from the heads of each household and agricultural land cover in which collection were undertaken. ”

“ Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals; the U.S Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Research, Teaching, and Testing developed by the Interagency Research Animal Committee (IRAC) , and other federal statutes and state regulations relating to animal research. ”

“ Based on this coding, there was a significant association between land cover classes and presence of ZIKV (χ2 = 18.7, df = 6, P = 0.005) , with the forest canopy and forest ground classes significantly more likely to yield positive pools than the others (Figure 2) .
Land cover sites with positive ZIKV mosquito pools, southeastern Senegal, 2011. Minimum infection rates Overall infection rates among species differed significantly (χ2 = 82.1, df = 12, P<0.0001) . Ae. furcifer, Ae. vittatus, Ae. taylori, Ae. luteocephalus, Ae. dalzieli, Ae. aegypti, Ma. uniformis and An. ”

“ Diop, OM & Ndione, JA (2003) , Amplification of the sylvatic cycle of dengue virus type 2, Senegal, 1999–2000: entomologic findings and epidemiologic considerations, vol. 9, pp. 362–367, 12643833 DialloMBaYSallAADiopOMNdioneJAet al, pmid:12643833 ↑ Tewari, SC; Thenmozhi, V; Katholi, CR; Manavalan, R & Munirathinam, A (2004) , Dengue vector prevalence and virus infection in a rural area in south India, vol. ”