Blood-feeding behavior of vesicular stomatitis virus infected Culicoides sonorensis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

J Med Entomol. 2008 Sep;45(5):921-6. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2008)45[921:bbovsv]2.0.co;2.

Abstract

To determine whether vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) infection of Culicoides sonorensis Wirth & Jones (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) affects subsequent blood-feeding behavior, midges injected with either virus-infected or virus-free cell lysates were allowed to blood feed for short (10-min) or long (60-min) periods on 2, 3, and 4 d postinoculation (DPI). Generalized linear mixed models were fit to test the effects of infection status, duration of feeding period, and DPI on the percentage of females that blood fed. VSV-infection significantly reduced the percentage of females that blood fed on 2 DPI, the day of peak virus titer. On 3 DPI a significantly greater percentage of midges blood fed when allowed 60 min to feed. This effect was not seen on 2 and 4 DPI and was not dependent on VSV infection status. The impact of changes in blood-feeding behavior by infected insects on virus transmission is discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ceratopogonidae / physiology*
  • Ceratopogonidae / virology*
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology*
  • Sheep / blood
  • Time Factors
  • Vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus / physiology*