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Host Feeding Pattern of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) and Its Role in Transmission of West Nile Virus in Harris County, Texas

The vertebrate hosts of 672 blood-engorged Culex quinquefasciatus Say, collected in Harris County, Texas, during 2005, were identified by nucleotide sequencing PCR products of the cytochrome b gene. Analysis revealed that 39.1% had acquired blood from birds, 52.5% from mammals, and 8.3% were mixed avian and mammalian blood meals. Most frequent vertebrate hosts were dog (41.0%), mourning dove (18.3%), domestic cat (8.8%), white-winged dove (4.3%), house sparrow (3.2%), house finch (3.0%), gray catbird (3.0%), and American robin (2.5%). Results are interpreted in conjunction with concurrent avian and mosquito West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance activities in Harris County. We conclude that Cx. quinquefasciatus is an opportunistic feeder and principal mosquito vector of WNV in this metropolitan area; however, transmission by other mosquito species or by other modes of infection, such as ingestion, must account for the high WNV infection rates among local blue jays and American crows.

Received February 5, 2007. Accepted for publication April 1, 2007.

Acknowledgments: We are grateful for the technical assistance of the CAES support staff: John Sheppard, Michael Thomas, Shannon Finan, and summer research assistant Nicole M. Catarino. We also appreciate the help from Joe Stokes and Betty Casteel of the HCPHES, Mosquito Control Division, who provided substantial time and considerable effort with dead bird collections and transport of specimens to UTMB for WNV analysis, and Christina Hailey-Dischinger for generating the Harris County WNV surveillance map. We thank Drs. Eric Fonken and Jim Schuermann of the Zoonosis Control Branch, Department of State Health Services, Austin, TX, for providing valuable data on human WNV cases, Janelle Rios for making a copy of her thesis available for review, and Dora Salinas, UTMB, for help in preparing the manuscript.

Financial support: Funding for this research was provided in part by Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement (no. U50/CCU6806-01-1), from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Specific Cooperative Agreement (no. 58-6615-1-218), from USDA-administered Hatch funds (CONH00768) to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and from the National Institutes of Health (contract NO1-AI25489) to the University of Texas Medical Branch.

^* Address correspondence to Goudarz Molaei, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington St., New Haven, CT 06511. E-mail: Goudarz.Molaei{at}po.state.ct.us

Authors’ addresses: Goudarz Molaei, Theodore Andreadis, and Philip Armstrong, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06511, Telephone: +1 (203) 974-8487, Fax: +1 (203) 974-8502, E-mail: Goudarz.Molaei{at}po.state.ct.us. Rudy Bueno, James Dennett, Susan Real, Chris Sargent, Adilelkhidir Bala, Yvonnne Randle, and Tawaeesak Wuithiranyagool, Mosquito Control Division, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, 3333 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, TX 77021, Telephone: +1 (713) 440-4800; Fax: +1 (713) 440-4795. Hilda Guzman, Amelia Travassos da Rosa, and Robert Tesh, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, Telephone: +1 (409) 747-2431, Fax: +1 (409) 747-2429.

Reprint requests: Goudarz Molaei, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, New Haven, CT 06511, Telephone: +1 (203) 974-8487, Fax: +1 (203) 974-8502, E-mail: Goudarz.Molaei{at}po.state.ct.us.

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