Field and laboratory studies of venezuelan equine encephalitis virus ecology in Chiapas, Mexico.

Eleanor Rose Deardorff

Field and laboratory studies of venezuelan equine encephalitis virus ecology in Chiapas, Mexico.

dc.contributor.advisor	Scott Weaver	en_US
dc.creator	Eleanor Rose Deardorff	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2011-12-20T16:04:19Z
dc.date.available	2010-09-28	en_US
dc.date.available	2011-12-20T16:04:19Z
dc.date.created	2009-03-13	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-03-05	en_US
dc.description.abstract	The emergence of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in Chiapas Mexico was examined from a field approach and from a laboratory approach. This virus was not previously associated with equine disease in Mexico. The evolution of the equine virulent phenotype was thought to have resulted in a mosquito vector switch from Culex (Melanoconion) taeniopus to Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus as a result of land-use changes. Wild rodents and mosquitoes were captured over the course of one year and little evidence of virus circulation was found. Wild rodents from five species were then imported into the lab for experimental evaluation as virus amplifying hosts. It was found that a VEEV strain from the study area may use a variety of rodents as amplifying hosts in the laboratory. Lastly a breeding colony of Culex (Mel.) taeniopus mosquitoes was established and experimentally evaluated for the ability of these mosquitoes to transmit equine virulent VEEV. It was found that equine virulent virus infects and is transmitted by this mosquito with high efficiency and is likely maintained in transmission foci by Culex (Mel) taeniopus during inter-epizootic periods.	en_US
dc.format.medium	electronic	en_US
dc.identifier.other	etd-03132009-101619	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/2152.3/44
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.rights	Copyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the TDL web site by The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.	en_US
dc.subject	Virology	en_US
dc.subject	VEEV	en_US
dc.subject	rodent	en_US
dc.subject	mosquito	en_US
dc.subject	Mexico	en_US
dc.subject	Ecology	en_US
dc.subject	arbovirus	en_US
dc.title	Field and laboratory studies of venezuelan equine encephalitis virus ecology in Chiapas, Mexico.	en_US
dc.type.genre	dissertation	en_US
dc.type.material	text	en_US
thesis.degree.department	Experimental Pathology	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	The University of Texas Medical Branch	en_US
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral	en_US
thesis.degree.name	PhD	en_US