VecPrime: immune priming to vaccinate vectors

Mosquito borne disease is one of the greatest current and future global health concerns. With around half of the world's population being at risk from infection, and the number continuing to rise, controlling these diseases is an enormous and important challenge. To do so, understanding the interactions between these diseases and their vectors' immune responses is key. While the mechanisms are poorly understood, insects can be 'vaccinated' against diseases via a phenomenon known as immune priming. We have recently successfully vaccinated mosquitoes against the human and animal disease West Nile virus and here seek to expand that work to understand more generally how this priming works in mosquitoes. We aim to test various viruses, and whether vaccinations can protect against multiple diseases through cross-protection. These results will help fill key knowledge gaps about the immune responses of mosquitoes and help in developing strategies to control important human and animal diseases.