Detection of West Nile virus RNA in mosquitoes and identification of mosquito blood meals collected at alligator farms in Louisiana.

Since 2001, alligator farms in the United States have sustained substantial economic losses because of West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Once an initial infection is introduced into captive alligators, WNV can spread among animals by contaminative transmission. Some outbreaks have been linked to feeding on infected meat or the introduction of infected hatchlings, but the initial source of WNV infection has been uncertain in other outbreaks. We conducted a study to identify species composition and presence of WNV in mosquito populations associated with alligator farms in Louisiana. A second objective of this study was to identify the origin of mosquito blood meals collected at commercial alligator farms. Mosquitoes were collected from 2004 to 2006, using Centers for Disease Control light traps, gravid traps, backpack aspirators, and resting boxes. We collected a total of 58,975 mosquitoes representing 24 species. WNV was detected in 41 pools of females from 11 mosquito species: Anopheles crucians, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Coquillettidia perturbans, Culex coronator, Culex erraticus, Culex nigripalpus, Culex quinquefasciatus, Mansonia titillans, Aedes sollicitans, Psorophora columbiae, and Uranotaenia lowii. The blood meal origins of 213 field-collected mosquitoes were identified based on cytochrome B sequence identity. Alligator blood was detected in 21 mosquitoes representing six species of mosquitoes, including Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. nigripalpus. Our results showed that mosquitoes of species that are known to be competent vectors of WNV fed regularly on captive alligators. Therefore, mosquitoes probably are important in the role of transmission of WNV at alligator farms.

Host feeding patterns of Culex mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

Host feeding patterns were examined for four species of Culex mosquitoes collected from 18 sites in or adjacent to East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, from November 2002 to October 2004. Host DNA from 37 bloodfed Culex coronator Dyar and Knab, 67 bloodfed Cx. salinarius Coquillett, 112 bloodfed Cx. nigripalpus Theobald, and 684 bloodfed Cx. quinquefasciatus Say were identified. The percentages of bloodmeals containing mammalian DNA were 94.6% for Cx. coronator, 82.1% for Cx. salinarius, 66.1% for Cx. nigripalpus, and 40.1% for Cx. quinquefasciatus. Human DNA was detected in 7% of the bloodmeals from Cx. quinquefasciatus and 2.7% of the bloodmeals from Cx. nigripalpus. The northern cardinal was the most frequent avian host of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. nigripalpus. In 2003 and 2004, there was no significant relationship from May through October between the proportion of Cx. quinquefasciatus feeding on mammalian hosts and the date of collection. Of the six avian species most frequently fed on by Cx. quinquefasciatus, the northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, common grackle, and brown thrasher were fed on more frequently than expected based on their abundance. House sparrows were fed on less frequently than expected based on their abundance. These data support the conclusions of previous studies that Cx. quinquefasciatus is the most important vector for both the enzootic amplification and transmission of West Nile virus to humans in southern Louisiana.

Geographic factors contributing to a high seroprevalence of West Nile virus-specific antibodies in humans following an epidemic.

Sera of 624 blood donors were evaluated to determine seroprevalence of West Nile virus (WNV) antibodies following the 2003 WNV epidemic in Nebraska. Geographic factors contributing to differences in WNV seropositivity were evaluated. The overall prevalence of WNV in Nebraska was higher than reported previously in other U.S. locations (9.5% WNV immunoglobulin G seroprevalence rate), with the highest prevalence identified in the western part of the state (19.7%), followed by the central (13.8%) and the eastern (4.2%) parts. Regions of the state with the highest WNV-positive mosquito rates correlated with the highest human WNV seroprevalence rates. The results showed that both the western and central parts of the state, where mosquito positivity rates were highest, had significantly higher seroprevalence rates than the eastern region. Additional studies are needed to determine whether the high prevalence rates in Nebraska will be reflected in other states and what impact environmental and geographical factors may have on future outbreaks of WNV infection.