HIV and insects and HOT ZON question

[weissm at rockvax.rockefeller.edu]

In article <3isghv$hp1 at biovax.biobase.dk>, ali at biobase.dk (Ali Karami) wrote:

> Dear virologist :
> 
> Is it possible that  insect like mosquto, sand fly or any other insects
>  transmit
> HIV virus from one person to other?  
   
   HIV like all viruses shows cell specificity.  There are apparantly no
cells in mosquitos that carry receptors for HIV.  It is possible though
unlikely that a female mosquito could act like a flying syringe with
infected blood in its probocis as a result of an interrupted feeding and
begin feeding on some one else and in the process infect them.  One tha
amount of blood in a probocis is very, very small making it unlikely any
infected cells or virions would be in it; two the epidemiological evidence
does not point to mosquitos as a transmitter of HIV.  If so young children
who play out of doors a lot more than adults would have more HIV than
adults do.  Also, is appears that HIV cannot survive in mosquito tissue
and is digested along with the blood meal.

and how long HIV can survive in different
>  insects ?
   
   not very long as HIV has no specificity for insect cells.

 what about aerosols, from HIV  positive person to others ?

   Again no evidence for it.  If HIV were spread by aerosols like colds or
influenza we'd be in very deep trouble.  In fact HIV is not that easy to
get.


>  and about this Hot ZON ,  It is very  unusual to mee that an Expert in Level
>  4 biohazard  for checking contamination of cell culture tries to  check the
>  smell of the culture by opening the top  ??? in  biohazard lab to see if ther
>  is any bacteriial contamination like pseudomonas ????  I thought they are
>  using Antibiotics for preventing  growth of bacteria ???? but even this
hapens
>  sample from ebola infected monky ???? openng the top of culture and check
>  it by nose ????? My god !!!! how can they do that ??? Cant just they culture
>  from that tube to bacterial  culture medium or just  check it by microscope
>  for contamination?? 
> 
>  Just asking

I agree

Cheers,

Martin