Monitoring Japanese encephalitis virus activity using domestic sentinel pigs in Mandya district, Karnataka state (India).

Domestic pigs were used as sentinels in Mandya district (Karnataka state) in India during 1984 to 1986 to monitor the activity of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus in nature. Out of 213 sentinel pigs studied in 11 localities, 44 pigs placed at 5 localities showed seroconversion to Japanese encephalitis virus. A pig mosquito cycle, operating throughout the year appears to be one of the maintenance mechanisms of the virus in the study area in addition to the bird-mosquito cycle.