Interrupting the transmission cycle: A protein required for dengue virus infection of mosquitoes

An estimated 2 billion people are at risk for being bitten by Aedes mosquitoes and infected with the dengue virus (DENV). A new study introduces a candidate target for a transmission-blocking vaccine that interferes with virus infection of the mosquito after it feeds on the blood of infected hosts (such a vaccine would be a valuable complement to traditional DENV vaccines in development that seek to prevent human infection).