Fig 4. ZIKV I-44 midgut escape and dissemination rates in Control and Starve Ae. aegypti HWE following oral ingestion of virus in two independent experiments.

The ZIKV titre in the blood-meal was 1.7x10⁶ plaque forming units (PFU) per mL. Virus was quantified in individual midguts and carcasses (n = 20–39 per group/timepoint) by plaque assay on Vero cells at 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11 days post-infection (dpi) in the initial experiment (A, B) and at 3, 5, 7 and 9 dpi in the second experiment (C, D). (A, C) ZIKV midgut escape rates (MER) for Starve and Control mosquitoes in experiment 1 (A) and experiment 2 (C), defined as the number of virus-positive carcasses divided by the number of virus-positive midguts over the time-course. (B, D) ZIKV dissemination rates (DR) for Starve and Control mosquitoes in experiment 1 (B) and experiment 2 (D), defined as the number of virus-positive carcasses divided by the total number of carcasses analysed. Count data (infected/non-infected tissues) were used for statistical analysis by Fisher’s Exact test; * = p < 0.05.