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Host Feeding Patterns of Potential Vectors of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus at an Epizootic Focus in Tennessee

In 2006, 2,817 blood-fed mosquitoes were collected from the site of a 2005 eastern equine encephalitis outbreak in Chester County, TN. Using a polymerase chain reaction–based assay, 264 vertebrate hosts were identified from seven mosquito species. Culex erraticus and Cx. nigripalpus fed on a diversity of mammalian, avian, and reptilian hosts, whereas Anopheles quadrimaculatus and An. punctipennis were predominantly mammalophagic. Overall, 27% of Cx. nigripalpus, 16% of Cx. erraticus, and 7% of An. quadrimaculatus blood meals were acquired from avian hosts. No avian-derived blood meals were identified from An. punctipennis. The house finch, Carolina wren, and mourning dove were the most commonly identified avian host species. By incorporating this study with flight range, vector competence, and virus field isolation data, we assessed certain aspects of the enzootic and epizootic vectorial capacity of the mosquito species present at this outbreak site.

Received July 14, 2008. Accepted for publication February 26, 2009.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Claude Bailey at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for analysis of the study sites and Dr. Goudarz Molaei for providing control samples. We acknowledge Christina Moore and Sheri Roberts for assisting with sequencing reactions.

Financial support: This research was supported by a grant from the Southeast Center for Emerging Biological Threats (SECEBT). SC was supported by an appointment to the Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Fellowship Program administered by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

^* Address correspondence to Abelardo C. Moncayo, Vector-Borne Diseases Section, Communicable and Environmental Disease Services, Tennessee Department of Health, 630 Hart Lane, Nashville, TN 37216. E-mail: Abelardo.Moncayo{at}tn.gov

Authors’ addresses: Sara B. Cohen, Sudeshna Mukherjee, and Abelardo C. Moncayo, Vector-Borne Disease Section, Tennessee Department of Health, 630 Hart Lane, Nashville, TN 37216, Fax: 615-262-6324, E-mails: Sara.Cohen{at}tn.gov, Sudeshna.Mukherjee{at}gmail.com, and Abelardo.Moncayo{at}tn.gov. Kenneth Lewoczko and Erin Moody, Biology Department, Union University, 1050 Union University Drive, Jackson, TN 38305. Dora B. Huddleston, Knoxville Health Department, 140 Dameron Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917, E-mail: Dora.Huddleston{at}tn.gov. John R. Dunn and Timothy F. Jones, Communicable and Environmental Disease Services, Tennessee Department of Health, 425 5th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243, E-mails: John.Dunn{at}tn.gov and Tim.F.Jones{at}tn.gov. Ron Wilson, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, C. E. Kord Animal Disease Laboratory, Ellington Agricultural Center, 440 Hogan Road, Nashville, TN 37220.