Recent field studies have suggested that the dynamics of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission are influenced strongly by a few key super spreader bird species that function both as primary blood hosts of the vector mosquitoes (in particular Culex pipiens) and as reservoir-competent virus hosts. It has been hypothesized that human cases result from a shift in mosquito feeding from these key bird species to humans after abundance of the key birds species decreases. To test this paradigm, we performed a mosquito blood meal analysis integrating host-feeding patterns of Cx. pipiens, the principal vector of WNV in the eastern United States north of the latitude 36 degrees N and other mosquito species with robust measures of host availability, to determine host selection in a WNV-endemic area of suburban Chicago, Illinois, during 2005-2007. Results showed that Cx. pipiens fed predominantly (83%) on birds with a high diversity of species used as hosts (25 species). American robins (Turdus migratorius) were marginally overused and several species were underused on the basis of relative abundance measures, including the common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Culex pipiens also fed substantially on mammals (19%; 7 species with humans representing 16%). West Nile virus transmission intensified in July of both years at times when American robins were heavily fed upon, and then decreased when robin abundance decreased, after which other birds species were selected as hosts. There was no shift in feeding from birds to mammals coincident with emergence of human cases. Rather, bird feeding predominated when the onset of the human cases occurred. Measures of host abundance and competence and Cx. pipiens feeding preference were combined to estimate the amplification fractions of the different bird species. Predictions were that approximately 66% of WNV-infectious Cx. pipiens became infected from feeding on just a few species of birds, including American robins (35%), blue jays (17%, Cyanocitta cristata), and house finches (15%, Carpodacus mexicanus).

BackgroundModels of the effects of environmental factors on West Nile virus disease risk have yielded conflicting outcomes. The role of precipitation has been especially difficult to discern from existing studies, due in part to habitat and behavior characteristics of specific vector species and because of differences in the temporal and spatial scales of the published studies. We used spatial and statistical modeling techniques to analyze and forecast fine scale spatial (2000 m grid) and temporal (weekly) patterns of West Nile virus mosquito infection relative to changing weather conditions in the urban landscape of the greater Chicago, Illinois, region for the years from 2004 to 2008.ResultsIncreased air temperature was the strongest temporal predictor of increased infection in Culex pipiens and Culex restuans mosquitoes, with cumulative high temperature differences being a key factor distinguishing years with higher mosquito infection and higher human illness rates from those with lower rates. Drier conditions in the spring followed by wetter conditions just prior to an increase in infection were factors in some but not all years. Overall, 80% of the weekly variation in mosquito infection was explained by prior weather conditions. Spatially, lower precipitation was the most important variable predicting stronger mosquito infection; precipitation and temperature alone could explain the pattern of spatial variability better than could other environmental variables (79% explained in the best model). Variables related to impervious surfaces and elevation differences were of modest importance in the spatial model.ConclusionFinely grained temporal and spatial patterns of precipitation and air temperature have a consistent and significant impact on the timing and location of increased mosquito infection in the northeastern Illinois study area. The use of local weather data at multiple monitoring locations and the integration of mosquito infection data from numerous sources across several years are important to the strength of the models presented. The other spatial environmental factors that tended to be important, including impervious surfaces and elevation measures, would mediate the effect of rainfall on soils and in urban catch basins. Changes in weather patterns with global climate change make it especially important to improve our ability to predict how inter-related local weather and environmental factors affect vectors and vector-borne disease risk.Local impact of temperature and precipitation on West Nile virus infection in Culex species mosquitoes in northeast Illinois, USA.

Host-feeding patterns of Culex pipiens L. collected in southwest suburban Chicago in 2005 were studied using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing techniques. Culex spp. mosquitoes, most identified to Cx. pipiens and the remainder to Cx. restuans by PCR, had fed on 18 avian species, most commonly American robin (Turdus migratorious), house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). Additional blood meals were derived from four mammal species, primarily humans and raccoons (Procyon lotor). During a West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic in 2005, West Nile virus (WNV) RNA was detected in heads and thoraces of five Cx. pipiens (n = 335, 1.5%) using quantitative PCR. The hosts of these virus-infected, blood-fed mosquitoes included two American robins, one house sparrow, and one human. This is the first report of a WNV-infected Cx. pipiens mosquito collected during an epidemic of WNV that was found to have bitten a human. These results fulfill a criterion for incrimination of Cx. pipiens as a bridge vector.

Abstract. Urban habitat heterogeneity can modify interactions across species and lead to spatially fine grained differences in b-diversity patterns and their associated ecosystem services. Here, we study the impacts of landscape heterogeneity and climatic variability on: (1) the richness and diversity patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and (2) the abundance and West Nile virus infection rate of the house mosquito, Culex pipiens, in Chicago, USA. We conducted a four year long study (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) in 8 sites that captured a gradient of urban heterogeneities. We found a total of 19 mosquito species, a representative sample of mosquito species richness in the area, according to both model estimation (Chao2 6 S.E. ¼ 20.50 6 2.29) and faunal records for Chicago. We found that heterogeneity in the landscape was the best predictor of both mosquito species richness and diversity, with the most heterogeneous landscapes harboring the largest number of species. In general there were no changes in species richness over the years that could be associated with weather patterns and climatic variability (WPCV). In contrast, changes in diversity were associated with WPCV. Our results also showed that WPCV had major impacts on house mosquito abundance and West Nile virus mosquito infection rate (MIR) patterns. Although MIR was independent of mosquito diversity, it was associated with overall mosquito abundance, which had a convex association with species richness (i.e., abundance increases to a point after which it decreases as function of species richness). Finally, our results highlight the importance of considering dominant vector species as part of a community of vectors, whose biodiversity patterns can directly or indirectly impact the risk of infectious disease transmission.

Blood-feeding arthropod vectors are responsible for transmitting many parasites between vertebrate hosts. While arthropod vectors often feed on limited subsets of potential host species, little is known about the extent to which this influences the distribution of vector-borne parasites in some systems. Here, we test the hypothesis that different vector species structure parasitehost relationships by restricting access of certain parasites to a subset of available hosts. Specifically, we investigate how the feeding patterns of Culex mosquito vectors relate to distributions of avian malaria parasites among hosts in suburban Chicago, IL, USA. We show that Plasmodium lineages, defined by cytochrome b haplotypes, are heterogeneously distributed across avian hosts. However, the feeding patterns of the dominant vectors (Culex restuans and Culex pipiens) are similar across these hosts, and do not explain the distributions of Plasmodium parasites. Phylogenetic similarity of avian hosts predicts similarity in their Plasmodium parasites. This effect was driven primarily by the general association of Plasmodium parasites with particular host superfamilies. Our results suggest that a mosquito-imposed encounter rate does not limit the distribution of avian Plasmodium parasites across hosts. This implies that compatibility between parasites and their avian hosts structure Plasmodium host range.

Understanding the ecological and epidemiological roles of pets in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is critical for animal and human health, identifying household reservoirs, and predicting the potential enzootic maintenance of the virus. We conducted a longitudinal household transmission study of 76 dogs and cats living with at least one SARS-CoV-2-infected human in Texas and found that 17 pets from 25.6% of 39 households met the national case definition for SARS-CoV-2 infections in animals. This includes three out of seventeen (17.6%) cats and one out of fifty-nine (1.7%) dogs that were positive by RT-PCR and sequencing, with the virus successfully isolated from the respiratory swabs of one cat and one dog. Whole-genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from all four PCR-positive animals were unique variants grouping with genomes circulating among people with COVID-19 in Texas. Re-sampling showed persistence of viral RNA for at least 25 d-post initial test. Additionally, seven out of sixteen (43.8%) cats and seven out of fifty-nine (11.9%) dogs harbored SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies upon initial sampling, with relatively stable or increasing titers over the 2–3 months of follow-up and no evidence of seroreversion. The majority (82.4%) of infected pets were asymptomatic. ‘Reverse zoonotic’ transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from infected people to animals may occur more frequently than recognized.

The influence of host diversity on multi-host pathogen transmission and persistence can be confounded by the large number of species and biological interactions that can characterize many transmission systems. For vector-borne pathogens, the composition of host communities has been hypothesized to affect transmission; however, the specific characteristics of host communities that affect transmission remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that vector host use and force of infection (i.e., the summed number of infectious mosquitoes resulting from feeding upon each vertebrate host within a community of hosts), and not simply host diversity or richness, determine local infection rates of West Nile virus (WNV) in mosquito vectors. In suburban Chicago, Illinois, USA, we estimated community force of infection for West Nile virus using data on Culex pipiens mosquito host selection and WNV vertebrate reservoir competence for each host species in multiple residential and semi-natural study sites. We found host community force of infection interacted with avian diversity to influence WNV infection in Culex mosquitoes across the study area. Two avian species, the American robin (Turdus migratorius) and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), produced 95.8% of the infectious Cx. pipiens mosquitoes and showed a significant positive association with WNV infection in Culex spp. mosquitoes. Therefore, indices of community structure, such as species diversity or richness, may not be reliable indicators of transmission risk at fine spatial scales in vector-borne disease systems. Rather, robust assessment of local transmission risk should incorporate heterogeneity in vector host feeding and variation in vertebrate reservoir competence at the spatial scale of vector-host interaction.

Epizootic transmission of West Nile virus (WNV) often intensifies rapidly leading to increasing risk of human infection, but the processes underlying amplification remain poorly understood. We quantified epizootic WNV transmission in communities of mosquitoes and birds in the Chicago, Illinois (USA) region during 2005 and 2006. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods, we detected WNV in 227 of 1195 mosquito pools (19%) in 2005 and 205 of 1685 (12%) in 2006; nearly all were Culex pipiens. In both years, mosquito infection rates increased rapidly in the second half of July to a peak of 59/1000 mosquitoes in 2005 and 33/1000 in 2006, and then declined slowly. Viral RNA was detected in 11 of 998 bird sera (1.1%) in 2005 and 3 of 1285 bird sera (<1%) in 2006; 11 of the 14 virus-positive birds were hatch-year birds. Of 540 hatch-year birds, 100 (18.5%) were seropositive in 2005, but only 2.8% (14/493) tested seropositive in 2006 for WNV antibodies using inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We observed significant time series cross-correlations between mosquito infection rate and proportion of virus-positive birds, proportion of hatch-year birds captured in mist nets (significant in 2006 only), seroprevalence of hatch-year birds, and number of human cases in both seasons. These associations, coupled with the predominance of WNV infection and seropositivity in hatch-year birds, indicate a key role for hatch-year birds in the amplification of epizootic transmission of WNV, and in increasing human infection risk by facilitating local viral amplification.