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7 September 2016 Comparative Susceptibility of Ochlerotatus japonicus, Ochlerotatus triseriatus, Aedes albopictus, and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) to La Crosse Virus
Jeffrey J. Bara, Allison T. Parker, Ephantus J. Muturi
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Abstract

Invasive mosquito species can increase the transmission risk of native mosquito-borne diseases by acting as novel vectors. In this study, we examined the susceptibility of three exotic invasive mosquito species Aedes aegypti (L.), Ae. albopictus (Skuse), and Ochlerotatus japonicus (Theobald) to La Crosse virus (LACV) relative to the native primary vector Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Say). Adult females of the four mosquito species were orally challenged with LACV; incubated for 3, 5, 7, 9, or 11 d; and their midgut infection rates, dissemination rates, and effective vector competence were determined. Overall, Oc. japonicus (2.92) had the highest effective vector competence values, followed by Ae. albopictus (1.55), Ae. aegypti (0.88), and Oc. triseriatus (0.64). In addition, we assessed the relationship between mosquito size and LACV susceptibility for field-collected Oc. triseriatus and Oc. japonicus. We hypothesized that smaller adults would be more susceptible to LACV; however, our results did not support this hypothesis. Infected Oc. triseriatus tended to be larger than exposed but uninfected females, while infected and uninfected Oc. japonicus were similarly sized. These findings suggest that Oc. japonicus, Ae. albopictus, and Ae. aegypti have significant potential to transmit LACV and more research is needed to uncover their potential role in LACV epidemiology.

© The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Jeffrey J. Bara, Allison T. Parker, and Ephantus J. Muturi "Comparative Susceptibility of Ochlerotatus japonicus, Ochlerotatus triseriatus, Aedes albopictus, and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) to La Crosse Virus," Journal of Medical Entomology 53(6), 1415-1421, (7 September 2016). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjw097
Received: 23 February 2016; Accepted: 19 May 2016; Published: 7 September 2016
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KEYWORDS
arboviral transmission
invasive species
mosquito-borne disease
vector competence
vector-borne pathogen
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