title: Short report: comparison of oral infectious dose of West Nile virus isolates representing three distinct genotypes in Culex quinquefasciatus.
abstract: Phylogenetic analysis of West Nile virus in North America has identified replacement of the originally introduced clade, Eastern United States (NY99), by the North American clade. In addition, the transient emergence of other clades and genetic variants has also been observed. In this study, we investigated the potential role of the mosquito in the selection of these clades and genetic variants. We determined the relative susceptibility of Culex quinquefasciatus to infection with isolates from the Eastern U.S. clade, the North American clade, and the Southeast coastal Texas clade. Although significant differences were observed in 50% oral infectious dose values between the Eastern U.S. and two attenuated North American genetic variants compared with the North American and Southeast coastal Texas clade viruses, these differences did not correlate with persistence of the genotype in nature. These results indicate that selection of these viral genotypes was independent of viral oral infectivity in the mosquito.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0609, USA.
authors.forename: Dana L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Vanlandingham
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: McGee
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Klingler
authors.forename: Sareen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Galbraith
authors.forename: Alan D T
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higgs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D014481:United States; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000235:genetics*