Mosquitoes Can't Transmit Coronavirus, It Can't Survive In Them, Says Study

Mosquitoes are known vectors of several diseases like Malaria, Dengue and even the Zika virus. A new study, however, confirms that the notorious insects are unable to pass on the novel coronavirus from a COVID-19 infected individual to a healthy person.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

The new study has been conducted by researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Kansas State University and has now been published in the preprint server?bioRxiv?without a peer review.

In the study, the scientists point out that unlike the Malaria, Dengue and Zika virus, the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for?Covid-19?is not able to replicate after being ingested by mosquitoes. Interestingly, the study was not limited to mosquitoes but involved other biting insects too.

In a series of laboratory experiments, the researchers allowed several species of disease-carrying mosquitoes and other insects to feed on blood spiked with the novel coronavirus. They then watched the insects for 10 days to mimic natural infection routes.

It was found that the virus was unable to replicate itself, or even survive, in any of the insects. "Biting insects do not pose a risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans or animals," the researchers concluded from the study.

"For arthropods to be transmission-competent vectors, the respective pathogen must be acquired from a host during blood feeding, then infect the midgut, escape the midgut barrier, disseminate to and infect the salivary glands, and finally be transmitted to a susceptible host during subsequent blood feeding," the researchers wrote in the study.

Mosquitoes not a COVID-19 threat

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Over time, there have been several confirmations of the theory that mosquitoes are unable to spread Covid-19 from an infected person to a healthy one. The World Health Organization had earlier stated - “To date there has been no information nor evidence to suggest that the new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes”.

Another study confirmed the same back in July, monitoring the possibility of the theory for the first time through experimentation. Published in the journal Nature, the study concluded - “no virus was detected in the 277 inoculated mosquitoes collected and titrated at time points beyond 24 h, suggesting a rapid loss of infectivity and the lack of replication after injection.”