Because albumin and salts are the only ingredients in the formulation of the protein meals used in this study, our results suggest the presence of cellular components in viremic blood may facilitate the establishment of arbovirus infection in Ae. aegypti. Our reasoning is further supported by a previously published study comparing the infection outcomes of dengue virus serotype 2 after the engorgement of infectious blood meals and substitutive blood meal, which composed of soluble materials in the blood of vertebrate hosts including BSA, λ-globulin, and cholesterol. Here, ALB is linked to infection.