Seasonal abundance and potential of Japanese encephalitis virus infection in mosquitoes at the nesting colony of ardeid birds, Thailand.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the abundance and seasonal dynamics of mosquitoes, and to detect Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in these mosquitoes at the nesting colony of ardeid birds.

METHODS

Mosquitoes were collected bimonthly from July 2009 to May 2010 by Centers for Disease Control. Light traps and dry ice, as a source of CO2, were employed to attract mosquitoes. Mosquitoes were first identified, pooled into groups of upto 50 mosquitoes by species, and tested for JEV infection by viral isolation and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

A total of 20 370 mosquitoes comprising 14 species in five genera were collected. The five most abundant mosquito species collected were Culex tritaeniorhynchus (95.46%), Culex vishnui (2.68%), Culex gelidus (0.72%), Anopheles peditaeniatus (0.58%) and Culex quinquefasciatus (0.22%). Mosquito peak densities were observed in July. All of 416 mosquito pools were negative for JEV.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides new information about mosquito species and status of JEV infection in mosquitoes in Thailand. Further study should be done to continue a close survey for the presence of this virus in the ardeid birds.