Field investigations of winter transmission of eastern equine encephalitis virus in Florida

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2014 Oct;91(4):685-93. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0081.

Andrea M Bingham ¹, Nathan D Burkett-Cadena ¹, Hassan K Hassan ¹, Christopher J W McClure ¹, Thomas R Unnasch ²

Affiliations

1 Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Vero Beach, Florida; The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Indiana.
2 Global Health Infectious Disease Research Program, Department of Global Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Vero Beach, Florida; The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Indiana [email protected].

PMID: 25070997 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0081

Abstract

Studies investigating winter transmission of Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) were conducted in Hillsborough County, Florida. The virus was detected in Culiseta melanura and Anopheles quadrimaculatus in February 2012 and 2013, respectively. During the winter months, herons were the most important avian hosts for all mosquito species encountered. In collections carried out in the summer of 2011, blood meals taken from herons were still common, but less frequently encountered than in winter, with an increased frequency of mammalian- and reptile-derived meals observed in the summer. Four wading bird species (Black-crowned Night Heron [Nycticorax nycticorax], Yellow-crowned Night Heron [Nyctanassa violacea], Anhinga [Anhinga anhinga], and Great Blue Heron [Ardea herodias]) were most frequently fed upon by Cs. melanura and Culex erraticus, suggesting that these species may participate in maintaining EEEV during the winter in Florida.

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