Origin of the Dengue Fever Mosquito, Aedes aegypti, in California

Dengue fever is among the most widespread vector-borne infectious diseases. The primary vector of dengue is the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Ae. aegypti is prevalent in the tropics and sub-tropics and is closely associated with human habitats outside its native range of Africa. While long established in the southeastern United States of America where dengue is re-emerging, breeding populations have never been reported from California until the summer of 2013. Using 12 highly variable microsatellite loci and a database of reference populations, we have determined that the likely source of the California introduction is the southeastern United States, ruling out introductions from abroad, from the geographically closer Arizona or northern Mexico populations, or an accidental release from a research laboratory. The power to identify the origin of new introductions of invasive vectors of human disease relies heavily on the availability of a panel of reference populations. Our work demonstrates the importance of generating extensive reference databases of genetically fingerprinted human-disease vector populations to aid public health efforts to prevent the introduction and spread of vector-borne diseases.