Buzz! Slap! Ow! Taking the virus out of a mosquito’s bite

A rendering of a virus inside a mosquito. Credit: Donny Bliss MU researchers are getting a deeper understanding how mosquito-borne viruses infect the mosquito — an important step toward eliminating the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases They approach with the telltale sign – a high-pitched whine. It’s a warning that you are a mosquito’s next meal. But that mosquito might carry a virus, and now the virus is in you. Now, with the help of state-of-the-art technology, researchers at the University of Missouri can see how a virus moves within a mosquito’s body, which could lead to the prevention of mosquitoes transmitting diseases. “Previously, the common understanding was that when a mosquito has picked up a virus, it first needs some time to build up inside the midgut, or stomach, before infecting other tissues in the mosquito,” said Alexander Franz, an assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine and the study’s corresponding author. “However, our observations show...