Department of Entomology, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases and Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Feb 18;15(2):e0009173. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009173. eCollection 2021 Feb.
As an invasive mosquito species in the United States, Aedes albopictus is a potential vector of arboviruses including dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, and may also be involved in occasional transmission of other arboviruses such as West Nile, Saint Louis encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, and La Crosse viruses. Aedes albopictus feeds on a wide variety of vertebrate hosts, wild and domestic, as well as humans.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In order to investigate blood feeding patterns of Ae. albopictus, engorged specimens were collected from a variety of habitat types using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light traps, Biogents Sentinel 2 traps, and modified Reiter gravid traps in southeast Virginia. Sources of blood meals were determined by the analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences amplified in PCR assays. Our aims were to quantify degrees of Ae. albopictus interactions with vertebrate hosts as sources of blood meals, investigate arboviral infection status, assess the influence of key socioecological conditions on spatial variability in blood feeding, and investigate temporal differences in blood feeding by season. Analysis of 961 engorged specimens of Ae. albopictus sampled between 2017-2019 indicated that 96%, 4%, and less than 1% obtained blood meals from mammalian, reptilian, and avian hosts, respectively. Domestic cats were the most frequently identified (50.5%) hosts followed by Virginia opossums (17.1%), white-tailed deer (12.2%), and humans (7.3%), together representing 87.1% of all identified blood hosts. We found spatial patterns in blood feeding linked to socioecological conditions and seasonal shifts in Ae. albopictus blood feeding with implications for understanding human biting and disease risk. In Suffolk Virginia in areas of lower human development, the likelihood of human blood feeding increased as median household income increased and human blood feeding was more likely early in the season (May-June) compared to later (July-October). Screening of the head and thorax of engorged Ae. albopictus mosquitoes by cell culture and RT-PCR resulted in a single isolate of Potosi virus.
Understanding mosquito-host interactions in nature is vital for evaluating vectorial capacity of mosquitoes. These interactions with competent reservoir hosts support transmission, maintenance, and amplification of zoonotic agents of human diseases. Results of our study in conjunction with abundance in urban/suburban settings, virus isolation from field-collected mosquitoes, and vector competence of Ae. albopictus, highlight the potential involvement of this species in the transmission of a number of arboviruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika to humans. Limited interaction with avian hosts suggests that Ae. albopictus is unlikely to serve as a bridge vector of arboviruses such as West Nile and eastern equine encephalitis in the study region, but that possibility cannot be entirely ruled out.
作为美国的一种入侵性蚊子物种，白纹伊蚊是包括登革热、基孔肯雅热和寨卡病毒在内的虫媒病毒的潜在媒介，也可能偶尔参与其他虫媒病毒（如西尼罗河病毒、圣路易斯脑炎病毒、东部马脑炎病毒和拉克罗斯病毒）的传播。白纹伊蚊以各种野生动物和家养动物以及人类为食。
方法/主要发现：为了研究白纹伊蚊的吸血模式，我们使用疾病控制与预防中心的诱蚊灯、生物源 Sentinel 2 诱蚊器和改良后的 Reiter 集卵器，从东南弗吉尼亚州的各种栖息地类型中收集了已饱血的标本。通过 PCR 检测扩增的线粒体细胞色素 b 基因序列来确定血源。我们的目的是量化白纹伊蚊与脊椎动物宿主作为血源的相互作用程度，调查虫媒病毒感染状况，评估关键社会生态条件对吸血空间变异性的影响，并调查季节性变化对吸血的影响。分析了 2017 年至 2019 年间采集的 961 只已饱血的白纹伊蚊标本，结果表明，96%、4%和不到 1%的标本分别从哺乳动物、爬行动物和鸟类宿主中获得了血液。家猫是最常被识别的（50.5%）宿主，其次是弗吉尼亚负鼠（17.1%）、白尾鹿（12.2%）和人类（7.3%），它们共同代表了所有被识别的血液宿主的 87.1%。我们发现，与社会生态条件有关的吸血空间模式和白纹伊蚊吸血的季节性变化，这对理解人类叮咬和疾病风险有重要意义。在弗吉尼亚州萨福克，在人类发展水平较低的地区，随着家庭收入中位数的增加，人类血液摄入的可能性增加，并且与后期（7 月至 10 月）相比，早期（5 月至 6 月）更有可能出现人类血液摄入。对已饱血的白纹伊蚊的头胸部进行细胞培养和 RT-PCR 筛查，得到了波托西病毒的一个分离株。
了解蚊子与自然宿主的相互作用对于评估蚊子的媒介能力至关重要。这些与有能力的储存宿主的相互作用支持了人类疾病的动物病原体的传播、维持和扩增。我们的研究结果与城市/郊区环境中的丰度、从野外采集的蚊子中分离出的病毒以及白纹伊蚊的媒介能力相结合，突出了该物种在传播登革热、基孔肯雅热和寨卡病毒等多种虫媒病毒方面的潜在作用。与鸟类宿主的有限相互作用表明，在研究区域，白纹伊蚊不太可能作为西尼罗河病毒和东部马脑炎病毒等虫媒病毒的桥梁媒介，但不能完全排除这种可能性。
