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Xenomonitoring (detection of filarial larvae or their DNA in mosquitoes) is a sensitive marker for assessing the endemicity of filariasis and a useful tool for evaluating elimination programs. To examine the fate of microfilariae (mf) and filarial DNA in vector competent and non-competent mosquito strains, we compared the detection of Brugia malayi parasites by dissection and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in three different mosquito strains. We conclude that PCR is much more sensitive than dissection for detecting filarial larvae, especially their remnants in mosquitoes. However, parasite DNA can be detected in both vector and non-vector mosquitoes for two weeks or longer after they ingest mf-positive blood. Thus, although xenomonitoring with vector and non-vector mosquito species may be a sensitive method for indirectly detecting filarial parasites in human populations, positive test results for parasite DNA in mosquitoes do not necessarily prove that transmission is ongoing in the study area.
Received September 12, 2006. Accepted for publication November 22, 2006.
Acknowledgments: We thank Dr. John McCall (University of Georgia, Athens, GA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health Filariasis Research Reagent Repository Center for providing microfilaremic cat blood.
Financial support: This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health grant AI-35855 (Gary J. Weil) and AI-19769 (Bruce M. Christensen).
* Address correspondence to Peter Fischer, Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8051, St. Louis, MO 63110. E-mail: pufische{at}im.wustl.edu
These authors contributed equally to the study.
Authors’ addresses: Peter Fischer, Kerstin Fischer, Ramakrishna U. Rao, and Gary J. Weil, Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8051, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, Fax: 314-454-5293, E-mails: pufische{at}im.wustl.edu, kefische{at}im.wustl.edu, rrao{at}im.wustl.edu, and gweil{at}im.wustl.edu. Sara M. Erickson, Jeremy F. Fuchs, and Bruce M. Christensen, Department of Animal Health and Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1656 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, Fax: 608-262-7420, E-mails: smerickson{at}wisc.edu, fuchs{at}svm.vetmed.wisc.edu, and christensen{at}svm.vetmed.wisc.edu.
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