Science Alert  April 18, 2023 Mosquito transmission of dengue viruses to humans starts with infection of skin resident cells at the biting site. There is great interest in identifying transmission-enhancing factors in mosquito saliva in order to counteract them. An international team of researchers (Singapore, USA – University of Texas, University Virginia, Spain, France) has discovered high levels of the anti-immune subgenomic flaviviral RNA (sfRNA) in dengue virus 2-infected mosquito saliva. They confirmed that sfRNA was present in saliva. They showed that salivary sfRNA was protected in detergent-sensitive compartments. Based on this hypothesis, they visualized viral RNAs in vesicles in […]