We documented the antibody prevalence to three arboviruses, St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), and West Nile virus (WNV), in Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway; n = 80) in Florida from 2007 to 2008. Antibody prevalence to WNV was higher (9%) than for the other viruses. Most seropositive birds were adults (< or =3 yr of age), with 55% of adults testi...

Mosquitoes were collected in the Amazon Basin, near Iquitos, Peru, and used in experimental studies to evaluate their susceptibility to strains of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) that were isolated from mosquitoes captured within 20 km of Iquitos. When fed on hamsters or chickens with a viremia of 4105 plaque-forming units (PFU) of EEEV/ml, Culex pedroi Sirivanakarn and Belkin, Aedesfu...

BACKGROUND Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) is an alphavirus with high pathogenicity in both humans and horses. Florida continues to have the highest occurrence of human cases in the USA, with four fatalities recorded in 2010. Unlike other states, Florida supports year-round EEEV transmission. This research uses GIS to examine spatial patterns of documented horse cases during 2005-2010 ...

Uranotaenia sapphirina, Culex erraticus, and Cx. peccator were collected in an enzootic eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus focus in central Alabama (Tuskegee National Forest) from 2001 to 2003 and analyzed for virus as well as host selection. EEE virus was detected in each species every year except 2003, when pools of Cx. peccator were negative. Most (97%) of the 130 Cx. peccator bloo...

We examined the prevalence of antibodies to three mosquito-borne arboviruses in blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata, and Florida scrub-jays, Aphelocoma coerulescens, to identify the effects on host survival, the influence of sex and age on infection, and the temporal patterns of antibody prevalence. Blood samples from 306 blue jays and 219 Florida scrub-jays were collected at Archbold Biological Sta...

The attachment of eastern equine encephalitis virus to chicken embryo fibroblasts was studied at 0 degrees C. The binding specifically responsible for initiating infection was studied in the initial experiments by employing plaque-forming ability as the measured response. Results from these initial studies were closely paralleled in studies of binding of radiolabeled virus under the same condit...

The traditional view of interactions between arboviruses and their arthropod vectors is that vector hosts become increasingly resistant to parasites; parasite attenuation occurs; or through the process of coevolution, resistance and attenuation occur in concert. Detrimental effects from arboviruses are only seen when vector and virus are not yet well adapted. Results from this study indicate th...

Putative epidemic/epizootic eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEE) vector populations were compared at 15 recent (1982-90) human and horse case sites in Bristol and Plymouth counties in southeastern Massachusetts. Carbon dioxide-baited American Biophysics Corporation light traps were used for trapping adult mosquitoes to estimate biting risk in these foci of known transmission. Population...

BACKGROUND A site near Tuskegee, Alabama was examined for vector-host activities of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEEV). Land cover maps of the study site were created in ArcInfo 9.2 from QuickBird data encompassing visible and near-infrared (NIR) band information (0.45 to 0.72 microm) acquired July 15, 2008. Georeferenced mosquito and bird sampling sites, and their associated land co...

Coquillettidia perturbans (Walker) has been implicated as a bridge vector of eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in North America. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus epizootics occur regularly in wild birds in New Jersey with little or no involvement of susceptible dead end hosts even though high populations of Cq. perturbans are present. Several factors may limit eastern equine encephal...