Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) are two species of mosquitoes commonly found in urban and periurban environments in the Latin American subcontinent. Ae. aegypti was introduced around the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, when the trade of slaves between Africa and America was intense.The introduction of Ae. albopictus into the Latin American subcontinent occurred between the years 1985 and 1986, when this vector was detected in the United States and Brazil for the first time .It is believed that this introduction was related to the importation of bamboo plants (Dracaena sp.) or used tires from Southeast-Asia. Both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus are biological vectors of viral diseases that affect human beings. Ae. aegypti is recognized as the world’s most important vector in the transmission of dengue virus (DENV). Additionally, it can also transmit chikungunya (CHIKV), yellow fever (YFV) and Venezuela equine encephalitis (VEE) viruses. On the other hand, Ae. albopictus is a known vector of viruses like DENV, CHIKV, Japanese encephalitis, La Crosse, among others . Regarding Zika virus (ZIKV), both species of Aedes have been implicated in its transmission. The infection by ZIKV usually generates a less severe clinical picture compared to DENV and CHIKV, but the association of this virosis with neurological syndromes such as Guillain-Barre, and with congenital problems such as microcephaly, represents a new point of interest in public health . Thus, the presence of this emerging disease in the Latin American subcontinent constitutes a new challenge for local health systems .This territory has environmental and urban conditions that are very appropriate for the dissemination of ZIKV. The absence of ZIKV immunity in the population and the high levels of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus infestation make efficient circulation of ZIKV likely, along with DENV and CHIKV .The aim of this review is to analyze the role of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in ZIKV transmission and to provide a brief overview of this virosis.
The first report of human infection by ZIKV occurred in 1964 , and the first isolations from human beings were documented in Nigeria in 1968 . Although there are several studies based on serological evidence that demonstrate the continuous circulation of ZIKV in human populations of Asia and Africa, it was not until 2007 that the first important outbreak was documented. This outbreak occurred in Yap Island in Micronesia: 49 cases were confirmed and 59 of them were classified as probable. In 2013, another important outbreak occurred in French Polyneia, in which around 10,000 cases of ZIKV were reported and 70 of them presented neurological and autoimmune complications . ZIKV is a flavivirus, similar to the Spondweni virus, and it is related to other viruses transmitted by mosquitoes such as DENV, YFV, West Nile virus (WNV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLE), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JE). The viral particle contains a positive-strand RNA-genome comprising 10,794 nucleotides, and it encodes for 3,419 amino acids .The gene organization is similar to other flaviviruses. The genome encodes for several proteins, including the capsid (C), premembrane (prM), envelope (E), and seven nonstructural proteins denominated as NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5 Molecular biology studies have recognized the existence of two lineages, the African and the Asian one
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