Vector competence of Aedes albopictus from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, for a St. Louis encephalitis virus strain isolated during the 1991 epidemic.

The vector competence of Aedes albopictus from Pine Bluff, AR, was assessed for a St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus strain isolated during the 1991 epidemic. Aedes albopictus were fed on hamsters with viremia levels of 10(4.6)-10(4.9) Vero cell plaque-forming units (PFU)/ml. At 7 and 15 days postbloodfeeding, transmission trials were conducted using individual suckling mice. Three of 313 Ae. albopictus were determined to be infected with SLE virus with titers of 10(6.3)-10(7.0) PFU/mosquito. At 15 days postbloodfeeding, one of 209 Ae. albopictus that refed transmitted virus resulting in a 15-day population transmission rate of 0.5%. The infection threshold (i.e., the amount of virus required to infect from 1 to 5% of mosquitoes) was determined to be approximately 10(2.3) PFU/mosquito. Virus inoculated intracoelomically into Ae. albopictus replicated and reached mean titers above 10(6.0) PFU/mosquito on day 6. The combination of low susceptibility to infection and a mammalophilic bloodfeeding pattern suggests that Ae. albopictus is unlikely to play a significant role in SLE transmission.