Bird species define the relationship between West Nile viremia and infectiousness to Culex pipiens mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT: The transmission cycle of West Nile virus (WNV) involves multiple species of birds. The relative importance of various bird species to the overall transmission is often inferred from the level and duration of viremia that they experience upon infection. Reports utilizing in vitro feeding techniques suggest that the source and condition of blood in which arboviruses are fed to mosquitoes can significantly alter the infectiousness of arbovirus to mosquitoes. We confirmed this using live hosts. A series of mosquito feedings with Culex pipiens was conducted on WNV-infected American robins and common grackles over a range of viremias. Mosquitoes were assayed individually by plaque assay for WNV at 3 to 7 days after feeding. At equivalent viremia, robins always infected more mosquitoes than did

SUBMITTER: Vaughan JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9578590 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature