Short report: Relative susceptibilties of South Texas mosquitoes to infection with West Nile virus

Abstract

Three species of mosquitoes (Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti, and Ae. albopictus) collected in Texas were compared with respect to their relative susceptibility to infection with West Nile virus (WNV) strain 114. Oral infection and dissemination rates were 73% infected with 86% dissemination for Ae. aegypti, 13% infected with 100% dissemination for Ae. albopictus, and 100% infected and disseminated for Cx. p. quinquefasciatus. The oral infectious dose required to establish a 50% infection rate was also determined. All feral mosquito species were found to be susceptible to oral infection with WNV (114) in a similar range: Ae. aegypti (6.37 log10 50% tissue culture infectious doses [TCID50]/5 μL), Ae. albopictus (6.17 log 10 TCID50/5 μL,), and Cx. p. quinquefasciatus (5.33 log10 TCID50/5 μL). These data demonstrate that both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus from Texas are susceptible to infection with WNV at a similar range to Cx. p. quinquefasciatus and may represent a threat of WNV transmission to humans because of host preferences. Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.