Abstract Title
Honey-Baited FTA Cards and RT-qPCR Aid in Surveillance of West Nile Virus in South Central Idaho
Additional Funding Sources
This project was made possible by the NSF Idaho EPSCoR Program and by the National Science Foundation under Award No. OIA-1757324.
Abstract
West Nile Virus (WNV) arrived in North American in 1999. Over time, WNV has become endemic in many areas, and has been a source of epidemics and epizootic episodes in every continent except Antarctica. North America remains one of the least studied continents and comparatively little is known about the Culex vectors of south central Idaho.
Vector surveillance using honey-baited FTA cards and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction has become a standard in some abatement districts. This method was trialed in overnight traps in Twin Falls County, Idaho, USA.
Unexpectedly, the traps attracted more Anopheles and Aedes species, which are minimal threats in south central Idaho. The traps contained overall low counts of Culex species, and yet lower counts of sugar-fed Culex. Invariably, 10 RAMP units were obtained from each rapid analyte test. Results from RT-qPCR will be obtained and used to evaluate the sensitivity and accuracy of the rapid analyte assay.
Honey-Baited FTA Cards and RT-qPCR Aid in Surveillance of West Nile Virus in South Central Idaho
West Nile Virus (WNV) arrived in North American in 1999. Over time, WNV has become endemic in many areas, and has been a source of epidemics and epizootic episodes in every continent except Antarctica. North America remains one of the least studied continents and comparatively little is known about the Culex vectors of south central Idaho.
Vector surveillance using honey-baited FTA cards and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction has become a standard in some abatement districts. This method was trialed in overnight traps in Twin Falls County, Idaho, USA.
Unexpectedly, the traps attracted more Anopheles and Aedes species, which are minimal threats in south central Idaho. The traps contained overall low counts of Culex species, and yet lower counts of sugar-fed Culex. Invariably, 10 RAMP units were obtained from each rapid analyte test. Results from RT-qPCR will be obtained and used to evaluate the sensitivity and accuracy of the rapid analyte assay.