Meeting Abstract
West Nile virus (WNV) was first discovered in the United States in 1999, and is now the most common vector-borne pathogen in the country, transmitted primarily by Culex pipiens and Culex restuans mosquitoes. As vectors acquire WNV through blood meals of infected birds, an understanding of the avian reservoir populations of the virus is required to limit WNV spread to humans. Using mosquitoes collected by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) from urban sites in all Pennsylvania counties between the years 2008-2013, this research aims to identify reservoir populations of WNV through blood meal analysis of Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuans samples. Preliminary results of this research reveal that both Cx. pipiens and Cx. restuans prey upon diverse hosts in urban habitats. Avian hosts detected in the sample include the House Sparrow (43.0%), American Robin (14.4%), Northern Cardinal (14.4%), Eastern Bluebird (7.1%), Red-winged Blackbird (7.1%), Green Heron (7.1%), and Northern Mockingbird (7.1%). This project is ongoing, and ultimately we will evaluate avian host-mosquito vector pairs for host distribution and host competencies to better understand factors influencing WNV disease transmission.
