How to translate text using browser tools
1 May 2015 Identification of Avian and Hemoparasite DNA in Blood-Engorged Abdomens of Culex pipiens (Diptera; Culicidae) from a West Nile Virus Epidemic Region in Suburban Chicago, Illinois
Emily Boothe, Matthew C. I. Medeiros, Uriel D. Kitron, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Marilyn O. Ruiz, Tony L. Goldberg, Edward D. Walker, Gabriel L. Hamer
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Multiple mosquito-borne parasites cocirculate in nature and potentially interact. To understand the community of parasites cocirculating with West Nile virus (WNV), we screened the bloodmeal content of Culex pipiens L. mosquitoes for three common types of hemoparasites. Blood-fed Cx. pipiens were collected from a WNV-epidemic area in suburban Chicago, IL, from May to September 2005 through 2010. DNA was extracted from dissected abdomens and subject to PCR and direct sequencing to identify the vertebrate host. RNA was extracted from the head or thorax and screened for WNV using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Seventy-nine engorged females with avian host origin were screened using PCR and amplicon sequencing for filarioid nematodes, Haemosporida, and trypanosomatids. Filarioid nematodes were identified in 3.8% of the blooded abdomens, Plasmodium sp. in 8.9%, Haemoproteus in 31.6%, and Trypanosoma sp. in 6.3%. The sequences from these hemoparasite lineages were highly similar to sequences from birds in prior studies in suburban Chicago. Overall, 50.6% of blood-fed Culex pipiens contained hemoparasite DNA in their abdomen, presumably from current or prior bloodmeals. Additionally, we detected hemoparasite DNA in the blooded abdomen of three of 10 Cx. pipiens infected with WNV.

© The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
Emily Boothe, Matthew C. I. Medeiros, Uriel D. Kitron, Jeffrey D. Brawn, Marilyn O. Ruiz, Tony L. Goldberg, Edward D. Walker, and Gabriel L. Hamer "Identification of Avian and Hemoparasite DNA in Blood-Engorged Abdomens of Culex pipiens (Diptera; Culicidae) from a West Nile Virus Epidemic Region in Suburban Chicago, Illinois," Journal of Medical Entomology 52(3), 461-468, (1 May 2015). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjv029
Received: 6 October 2014; Accepted: 20 February 2015; Published: 1 May 2015
JOURNAL ARTICLE
8 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
American Robin
avian malaria
Culex pipiens
hemoparasite
West Nile virus
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top