Experimental transmission of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus by a strain of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Experimental studies were undertaken to ascertain the vector competence of a strain of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) collected in New Orleans, LA, (Gentilly strain) for an epizootic (Trinidad donkey) strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus. This strain of Ae. albopictus was significantly more susceptible to infection with VEE virus than were any of the four strains tested previously, including two from North America and two from South America. Likewise, dissemination (148 of 180) (82%) and transmission (40 of 88) (45%) rates were significantly higher in the Gentilly strain than in any of the strains previously tested. Analysis of the results of the present study along with those of a previous study with a second alphavirus, chikungunya (CHIK) virus, indicated that, although all three strains of Ae. albopictus tested were more susceptible to VEE virus than to CHIK virus, susceptibility to infection and dissemination with one alphavirus appeared to be directly related to susceptibility to infection and dissemination with the other virus and may indicate shared receptor sites for these two alphaviruses in Ae. albopictus.