Brock University medical entomologist Fiona Hunter is in Brazil for a global summit seeking ways to combat a mosquito that transmits Zika virus, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Fiona Hunter participated in the conference — Crisis in the Americas: Joining Together to Address a Grand Challenge — in Maceio, Brazil Sunday, March 13. The summit involved the international community of entomologists, discussing the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

It was held in conjunction with the joint Brazilian and Latin American Congresses of Entomology. Hunter will spend a few days at the entomolgy congress before flying home later this week.

Hunter and her team at Brock are studying Zika to see if Canadian mosquitoes can transmit the virus.

Last month, carefully sealed containers of Zika arrived at Brock’s campus, sent by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The team is growing the virus in cell culture so they can infect colony strains of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus with the virus. They will be testing whether the virus can be transmitted between male and female mosquitoes during mating, as well as whether female mosquitoes can pass the virus on to their eggs.

Fiona Hunter is in Brazil for an entomology conference.