Table 1.
Infection (IR), transmission (TR) and transmission efficiency rates (TE) of three Culex species experimentally infected with West Nile virus and kept at four different temperatures, June 2016 to July 2017 (n = 788). The experimental analytical sensitivity of the qRT-PCR was analysed according the protocol of Caraguel et al. calculating the limit of detection via endpoint dilution [50]. The limit of detection was defined as 100 copies/µL, corresponding to about 10,000 copies per mosquito specimen. (NA: not analyzed; IR: number of positive saliva/positive bodies; TR: number of positive legs/positive bodies; TE: number of positive saliva per mosquito).
| 14 Days Post Infection | 21 Days Post Infection | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mosquito Taxa | T in °C | IR (%) |
TR (%) |
TE (%) |
IR (%) |
TR (%) |
TE (%) |
| Culex p. molestus | 18 | 0/29 (0.0) |
NA | NA | 1/29 (3.4) |
0/1 (0.0) |
NA |
| 24 | 0/31 (0.0) |
NA | NA | 1/31 (3.2) |
0/1 (0.0) |
NA | |
| 27 | 0/31 (0.0) |
NA | NA | 4/62 (6.4) |
1/4 (25.0) |
1/62 (1.6) |
|
| Culex p. pipiens | 18 | 1/32 (3.1) |
0/1 (0.0) |
NA | 2/33 (6.1) |
0/2 (0.0) |
NA |
| 21 | 1/30 (3.3) |
0/1 (0.0) |
NA | 3/31 (9.7) |
0/3 (0.0) |
NA | |
| 24 | 1/30 (3.3) |
0/1 (0.0) |
NA | 7/31 (22.6) |
1/7 (14.3%) |
1/31 (3.2) |
|
| 27 | 0/35 (0.0) |
NA | NA | 3/33 (9.1) |
1/3 (33.3) |
1/33 (3.0) |
|
| Culex torrentium | 18 | 2/32 (6.2) |
0/2 (0.0) |
NA | 5/33 (15.2) |
0/5 (0.0) |
NA |
| 21 | 0/31 (0.0) |
NA | NA | 4/32 (12.5) |
0/4 (0.0) |
NA | |
| 24 | 2/31 (6.4) |
0/2 (0.0) |
NA | 8/29 (27.6) |
5/8 (62.5) |
5/29 (17.2) |
|
| 27 | 11/34 (32.4) |
1/11 (9.1) |
1/34 (2.9) |
10/38 (26.3) |
9/10 (90.0) |
9/38 (23.7) |
|