Nonviremic transmission of West Nile virus.

ABSTRACT: West Nile virus (WNV) is now the predominant circulating arthropod-borne virus in the United States with >15,000 human cases and >600 fatalities since 1999. Conventionally, mosquitoes become infected when feeding on viremic birds and subsequently transmit the virus to susceptible hosts. Here, we demonstrate nonviremic transmission of WNV between cofeeding mosquitoes. Donor, Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus mosquitoes infected with WNV were fed simultaneously with uninfected "recipient" mosquitoes on naïve mice. At all times, donor and recipient mosquitoes were housed in separate sealed containers, precluding the possibility of mixing. Recipients became infected in all five trials, with infection rates as high as 5.8% and no detectable viremia in the hosts. Remarkably, a 2.3% infection rate w

SUBMITTER: Higgs S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1157059 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature