Parasites and Vectors (2016) 9 (184) - Mosquito host choices on ...

David P. Tchouassi, Robinson O.K. Okiro, Rosemary Sang, Lee W. Cohnstaedt, David Scott McVey and Baldwyn Torto (2016)
Mosquito host choices on livestock amplifiers of Rift Valley fever virus in Kenya
Parasites and Vectors 9 (184)
Abstract:
Background
Animal hosts may vary in their attraction and acceptability as components of the host location process for assessing preference, and biting rates of vectors and risk of exposure to pathogens. However, these parameters remain poorly understood for mosquito vectors of the Rift Valley fever (RVF), an arboviral disease, and for a community of mosquitoes.
Methods
Using three known livestock amplifiers of RVF virus including sheep, goat and cattle as bait in enclosure traps, we investigated the host-feeding patterns for a community of mosquitoes in Naivasha, an endemic area of Rift Valley fever (RVF), in a longitudinal study for six months (June–November 2015). We estimated the incidence rate ratios (IRR) where mosquitoes chose cow over the other livestock hosts by comparing their attraction (total number collected) and engorgement rate (proportion freshly blood-fed) on these hosts.
Results
Overall, significant differences were observed in host preference parameters for attraction (F_2,15 = 4.1314, P = 0.037) and engorgement (F_2,15 = 6.24, P = 0.01) with cow consistently attracting about 3-fold as many mosquitoes as those engorged on sheep (attraction: IRR = 2.9, 95 % CI 1.24–7.96; engorgement: IRR = 3.2, 95 % CI = 1.38–7.38) or goat (attraction: IRR = 2.7, 95 % CI 1.18–7.16; engorgement: IRR = 3.28, 95 % CI 1.47–7.53). However, there was no difference between the attraction elicited by sheep and goat (IRR = 1.08; 95 % CI 0.35–3.33 or engorgement rate (IRR = 0.96, 95 % CI 0.36–2.57).
Conclusion
Despite the overall attractive pattern to feed preferentially on cows, the engorgement rate was clearly independent of the number attracted for certain mosquito species, notably among the flood water Aedes spp., largely incriminated previously as primary vectors of RVF. Our findings suggest that insecticide treated cattle (ITC) can be exploited in enclosure traps as contact bait in the monitoring and control of disease-causing mosquitoes in RVF endemic areas.
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Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Baldwyn Torto, Lee W. Cohnstaedt

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Anopheles gambiae		Kenya
	Culex pipiens		Kenya
	Aedes aegypti		Kenya
	Anopheles funestus		Kenya
	Anopheles coustani		Kenya
	Culex theileri		Kenya
	Aedes mcintoshi		Kenya
	Aedeomyia africana		Kenya
	Culex univittatus		Kenya
	Aedes tricholabis		Kenya
	Culex poicilipes		Kenya
	Culex tigripes		Kenya
	Aedes furcifer		Kenya
	Aedes tarsalis		Kenya
	Culex zombaensis		Kenya
	Culex annulioris		Kenya
	Anopheles christyi		Kenya