A Retroactive Analysis on Arbovirus Clusters throughout New England

Mosquitoes of Interest

Mosquitoes can transmit a variety of viruses to humans and animals. Some of the most common mosquitos can include:

• Culix pipiens: Common house mosquito


- Most common mosquito in the northern region.
- Consumes human blood but prefers bird bloox.
- Thrives in wet and temperate climates.
- Well known carrier of many diseases.

• Aedes japonicus: Asan Bush Mosquito


- An invasive species to the United States
- Can transmit Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV)
- Native to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southern China and RUsh
It has been implicated as an important anthropod-borne virus vector

• Aedes canadensis: Woodland Pool Mosquito


- An aggressive, day biting mosquito that can be a vector of a number of diseases
- Which is found mainly in eastern North America.
- Females gain blood meals from a wide range of large and small animals, birds, and reptiles.

• Culex salinarius: Salt Marsh Culex


- Can be found all over the U.S from Main to southern Florida, to Texas
- It feeds on birds as well as mammals, so it has been incriminated as a potential bridge vector for encephalitis virus

West Nile Virus

• West Nile Virus a is a mosquito-transmitted zoonotic virus that is endemic to North and South America and Europe.
• Spherical in shape it contains a lipid bilayer that is derived from its host cell (may be bird, human, etc)
  and contains a single RNA genome encoding for the virus.
• The CDC has been helping states with detecting WNV since 1990, but in 2002 WNV became a notifiable disease as
  there were many cases that year that were classified as neuroinvasive
• States now conduct testing and detecting each season (June through October) and report to the CDC using the Arbonet program.

West Nile Virus and Climate Change

• West Nile Virus is considered a key indicator for Climate Change
• Studies show that warmer climates have a direct correlation for higher populations of mosquito reservoirs and rates of bating
• Which increases the likelihood of the spread of infectious disease
• Many states have been tracking the rates of mosquito pools throughout the state since before 2002