Dear Marina Galvão Bueno, Nádia Martinez, Lívia Abdalla, Claudia Nunes Duarte dos Santos, and Marcia Chame,

On December 8th, 2016, I published a cited article that included the study titled "Arbovirus Survey in Wild Birds in Uganda" by Okia, N.O. et al. Journal article: East African Medical Journal 1971 Vol.48 No.12 pp.725-31.

And it took me three days to find it, so I completely understand why it is not included in your article. I took a screenshot of the abstract: http://www.infobarrel.com...

Key points:

In 1971, 221 birds (from 75 species) were studied and 15 percent of birds had antibodies to the Zika virus. (I do understand that the presence of antibodies does not necessarily indicate an ability to transmit an infectious dose to other species).

The study states: "... of the birds with antibodies to the Zika virus, most were forest dwellers. The Pycnonotidae family (bulbuls) yielded the majority of infected birds."

Based on what I've uncovered about where Wolbachia-infected Aedes mosquitoes enters the food chain (and the correlation between massive chick and fish deaths), I believe Wolbachia is playing an inordinate role in the Zika virus.

Jason Rasgon, an associate professor in Penn State’s entomology department, found Culex mosquitoes treated with Wolbachia were more likely to carry West Nile virus.

And a February 5th, 2014 study called "Wolbachia Increases Susceptibility to Plasmodium Infection in a Natural System" by F. Zélé, A. Nicot, A. Berthomieu, M. Weill, O. Duron, and A. Rivero found that using a completely natural mosquito-Wolbachia-Plasmodium combination, suggested that naturally Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes may, in fact, be better vectors of malaria than Wolbachia-free mosquitoes.

The mosquitoes used in this study were Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus.

My article explains where Wolbachia enters the food chain (unnaturally): From the copepod Mesocyclops longisetus (which prefers to eat Aedes larvae) to small planktivorous fish and sand eels; to terns, gulls, and larger planktivorous fish (such as herring); and so on. Here is a diagram I created: http://www.infobarrel.com...

I have contacted several scientists (including the Cornell Lab or Ornithology) about my theory. So far, the responses have been that this is worth investigating. So, I wanted to share this with you.

My thoery is that migratory birds may be reservoir hosts of Zika. And, in those species where Wolbachia (and /or Zika) has caused reproductive failures (as in the case of Arctic tern chicks in 2014), the Zika virus and Wolbachia can be passed along to other species (Culex mosquitoes and predators) for 5 days after death. West Nile virus (very similar to Zika) can live 5 days in a dead host; Wolbachia for (at least) a week.

My cited articles: http://www.infobarrel.com...

http://www.infobarrel.com...

I sincerely hope this information helps.


Most respectfully,

Rose Webster
Canadian freelance writer and activist
Education: nursing, orthotics/prosthetics, ophthalmology
Former healthcare and SARS frontline worker