FTA Cards Facilitate Storage, Shipment, and Detection of Arboviruses in Infected Aedes aegypti Collected in Adult Mosquito Traps.

AbstractThe utility of applying infected Aedes aegypti to Flinders Technology Associates (FTA® ) cards for storage, transport, and detection of dengue, Zika, and Barmah Forest viruses was assessed in laboratory-based experiments. The mosquitoes had been removed from Gravid Aedes Traps maintained under conditions of high temperature and humidity. RNA of all viruses could be detected in infected mosquitoes on FTA cards either individually or in pools with uninfected mosquitoes, and stored for up to 28 days. Importantly, there was only a minimal decrease in RNA levels in mosquitoes between days 0 and 28, indicating that viral RNA was relatively stable on the cards. FTA cards thus provide a mechanism for storing potentially infected mosquitoes collected in the field and transporting them to a central diagnostic facility for virus detection.