Identification of Blood Meals from Potential Arbovirus Mosquito Vectors in the Peruvian Amazon Basin.
The transmission dynamics of many arboviruses in the Amazon Basin region have not been fully elucidated, including the vectors and natural reservoir hosts. Identification of blood meal sources in field-caught mosquitoes could yield information for identifying potential arbovirus vertebrate hosts. We identified blood meal sources in 131 mosquitoes collected from areas endemic for arboviruses in the Peruvian Department of Loreto by sequencing polymerase chain reaction amplicons of the cytochrome b gene. Psorophora (Janthinosoma) albigenu, Psorophora (Grabhamia) cingulata, Mansonia humeralis, Anopheles oswaldoi s.l., and Anopheles benarrochi s.l. had mainly anthropophilic feeding preferences; Aedes (Ochlerotatus) serratus, and Aedes (Ochlerotatus) fulvus had feeding preferences for peridomestic animals; and Culex (Melanoconion) spp. fed on a variety of vertebrates, mainly rodents (spiny rats), birds, and amphibians. On the basis of these feeding preferences, many mosquitoes could be considered as potential enzootic and bridge arbovirus vectors in the Amazon Basin of Peru.
Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas. ppalermo@utep.edu.
Pedro M
PM
Palermo
Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Galveston, Texas.|Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.
Patricia V
PV
Aguilar
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Juan F
JF
Sanchez
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
Víctor
V
Zorrilla
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
Carmen
C
Flores-Mendoza
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
Anibal
A
Huayanay
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
Carolina
C
Guevara
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
Andrés G
AG
Lescano
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Eric S
ES
Halsey
D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology; D000663:Amphibians / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000821:virology; D001103:Arboviruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001717:Birds / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D003465:Culex / Q000821:virology; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D010568:Peru; D051381:Rats; D012377:Rodentia / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology
D045303:Cytochromes b