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EVALUATION OF METHODS TO ASSESS TRANSMISSION POTENTIAL OF VENEZUELAN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS BY MOSQUITOES AND ESTIMATION OF MOSQUITO SALIVA TITERS

Determining the dose of an arbovirus transmitted by a mosquito is important to design transmission and pathogenesis studies simulating natural infection. Several different artificial infection and transmission methods used to assess vector competence and to estimate the dose injected during mosquito feeding have not been fully evaluated to determine whether they accurately reflect natural transmission. Additionally, it is not known whether different mosquito vectors transmit similar amounts of a given virus. Therefore, we compared three traditional artificial transmission methods using Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) and Aedes albopictus and Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus mosquitoes. Both the mosquito species and the infection route used affected the amount of virus detected in the saliva after a 10-day extrinsic incubation period. Median titers of virus detected in saliva of Ae. albopictus and Oc. taeniorhynchus mosquitoes ranged from 0.2 to 1.1 log₁₀ (mean 0.7–1.4 log₁₀) and 0.2 to 3.2 log₁₀ (mean 1.0–3.6 log₁₀) plaque-forming units, respectively. The results of this study will aid in the design of transmission and pathogenesis studies involving arboviruses.

Received December 13, 2004. Accepted for publication February 8, 2005.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Jing Huang for rearing mosquitoes and Lifang Zhang, James Grady, and Charles Fulhorst for statistical help. We also thank Lark Coffey, Todd Davis, and Nikolaos Vasilakis for kindly reviewing this manuscript and Slobodan Paessler for advice with animal work.

Financial support: This research was supported by NIH grants AI 418807 and AI 57156. D.R.S. was supported by the CDC training grant in Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, T01/CCT622892. P.V.A. was supported by the James T. McLaughlin Fellowship fund. Authors’ addresses: Darci R. Smith, Anne-Sophie Carrara, and Scott C. Weaver, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, Telephone: 409-747-2440, Fax: 409-747-2415. Patricia V. Aguilar, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1019, Telephone: 409-747-2440, Fax: 409-747-2415.

^* Address correspondence to Scott C. Weaver, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, Texas 77555-0609. E-mail: sweaver{at}utmb.edu

Reprint requests: Scott C. Weaver, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, Telephone: 409-747-2440, Fax: 409-747-2415, E-mail: sweaver{at}utmb.edu.

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