St. Louis encephalitis (SLEV) and West Nile (WNV) arboviruses, which circulate in Argentina, are maintained in enzootic transmission cycles involving Culex mosquitoes (vectors) and birds belonging to orders Passeriformes and Columbiformes (amplifier hosts). The objective of this work was to determine the circulation of both viruses among wild birds in a semiarid ecosystem in the Province of La Rioja through a serologic survey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn Argentina the St. Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV) is an endemic and widely distributed pathogen transmitted by the cosmopolitan mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. During two outbreaks in Córdoba city, in 2005 and 2010, Culex interfor was also found infected, but its role as vector of SLEV is poorly known.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIxodid ticks were collected from wild birds in five ecoregions in north-central Argentina, namely: Selva de las Yungas, Esteros del Iberá, Delta e Islas del Paraná, Selva Paranaense and Chaco Seco. A total of 2199 birds belonging to 139 species, 106 genera, 31 families and 11 orders were captured, but ticks were collected only from 121 birds (prevalence=5.5%) belonging to 39 species (28.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The aim of the present study was to analyze the larvicidal activity of different crude extracts of Larrea cuneifolia and its most abundant lignan, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), against Culex quinquefasciatus.
Methods: Chloroform, methanol, and aqueous extracts from L. cuneifolia and NDGA were tested against larvae of Cx.
Arbovirus vector transmission is interrupted when vector abundance decreases or disappears in temperate regions during the winter season. Although the primary overwintering mechanism for many arboviruses in nature remains unknown, vertical transmission is one potential mechanism. Vertical transmission functions as an overwintering mechanism for St.
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