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An important variable in the amplification and escape from the enzootic cycle of the arboviral encephalitides is the degree of contact between avian hosts and mosquito vectors. To analyze this interaction in detail, blood-fed mosquitoes that were confirmed vectors of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus were collected in 2002 from an enzootic site in central Alabama during the time this virus was actively transmitted. Avian-derived blood meals were identified to the species level of the host, and the proportion derived from each species was compared with the overall composition of the avifauna at the study site. The EEE vector mosquito species fed significantly more on some bird species and less on other species than expected given the overall abundance, biomass, or surface area of the local avifauna. When viewed collectively, these data suggest that these mosquitoes are selectively targeting particular avian species.
Received April 7, 2003. Accepted for publication May 29, 2003.
Acknowledgments: We thank Lisa Baril, Scott Somershoe, T. J. Robinson, Briana Gary, Marc Caldwell, and Kate Lutkiewicz for assistance with bird capture. We also thank Naomi Lang-Unnasch, Robert S. Unnasch, and Herman Mays for critically reading the manuscript.
Financial support: This work was supported by a grant from the United States National Institutes of Health/National Science Foundation program in the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (project R01-Al49724) to Thomas R. Unnasch, Eddie W. Cupp, and Geoffrey E. Hill.
Authors’ addresses: Hassan K. Hassan, Department of Geographic Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, BBRB Box 7, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, Telephone: 205-975-7602, Fax: 205-934-5600. Eddie W. Cupp, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, 301 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5413, Telephone: 334-844-5010, Fax: 334-844-5005. Geoffrey E. Hill, Department of Biologic Sciences, 101 Life Sciences Building, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, Telephone: 334-844-9269. Charles R. Katholi, Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPHB 327F, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, Telephone: 205-934-4500. Kimberly Klinger, Pathology Department, University of Texas Medical Branch, 2-138A Keiller Building, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555, Telephone: 409-772-2821, Fax: 409-747-2437. Thomas R. Unnasch, Division of Geographic Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, BBRB 203, 1530 3rd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-2170, Telephone: 205-975-7601, Fax: 205-934-5600, E-mail: trunnasch{at}geomed.dom.uab.edu.
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