Mosquitoes Inoculate High Doses of West Nile Virus as They Probe and Feed on Live Hosts

Styer, Linda M; Kent, Kim A; Albright, Rebecca G; Bennett, Corey J; Kramer, Laura D; Bernard, Kristen A

doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0030132

i

Mosquitoes Inoculate High Doses of West Nile Virus as They Probe and Feed on Live Hosts

Supporting Files

Sep 14 2007
By Styer, Linda M ; Kent, Kim A ; Albright, Rebecca G ; ...

File Language:

English

Details

Alternative Title:

PLoS Pathog
Personal Author:

Styer, Linda M ; Kent, Kim A ; Albright, Rebecca G ; Bennett, Corey J ; Kramer, Laura D ; Bernard, Kristen A
Description:

Since it was first introduced into the United States in 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) has caused significant disease in humans, horses, and other animals. WNV is transmitted to humans and other vertebrate hosts by female mosquitoes as they take a blood meal. Currently, the amount of virus inoculated by mosquitoes while feeding on live hosts is unknown, and accurate estimates are critical so that appropriate challenge doses can be used in vaccine and viral pathogenesis studies. Here, we use a novel technique to determine the dose of WNV inoculated by mosquitoes as they probe and feed on the peripheral tissues of live animals. We found that mosquitoes inoculate high doses of virus into host tissues; these doses are 10 to 1,000 times higher than previous estimates obtained with assays that do not allow mosquitoes to probe or feed naturally. We also found that mosquitoes inoculate low doses of virus directly into the blood while blood feeding. Direct introduction of virus into the blood may alter viral tropism and cause low rates of infection in co-feeding mosquitoes. Our study provides new insights into the transmission of an emerging viral pathogen and the interaction of virus with its mosquito vector and vertebrate host.
Subjects:

Animals Blood Culicidae Disease Vectors Ear Feeding Behavior Female Mice Mice, Inbred C3H Mice, Inbred C57BL Tail Tropism Viral Load West Nile Fever West Nile Virus
Source:

PLoS Pathog. 2007; 3(9).
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

N01-AI25490/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; R01-CI000232-01/CI/NCPDCID CDC HHS/United States ; U54 AI057158/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U54 AI057158-019001/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States ; U54-AI057158/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States
Volume:

3
Issue:

9
Collection(s):

CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:5718362e2582ae926df9ec69536d409288f3ea73b4ecd5b393fb21a368d7d53c
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/31278/cdc_31278_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 196.76 KB ]

File Language:

English

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