1st Place: The community composition of La Crosse virus vectors varies with urbanization intensity in Knox County, TN, USA

Monday, November 14, 2022

11:54 AM – 12:06 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 201

Presenting Author(s)

Corey Day

Ph.D. Student
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee

Co-Author(s)

RT

Rebecca T. Trout Fryxell (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee

La Crosse virus (LACV), the causative agent of neuroinvasive LACV disease, is transmitted by container-inhabiting mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from the genus Aedes. Neuroinvasive LACV disease is generally associated with rural households near deciduous forests, and the disease is rare in urbanized areas. The rural focus of LACV transmission may be because the principal LACV vector (Ae. triseriatus) is out-competed by an accessory vector (Ae. albopictus) in urban habitats. To better understand the association between LACV vector composition and urbanization, we tested the hypothesis that the relative abundances of Ae. albopictus and Ae. triseriatus are directly associated with urbanization intensity. We collected mosquitoes along an urbanization gradient in Knox County, Tennessee using a combination of oviposition cups, CO2-baited traps, and gravid Aedes traps from 2020 to 2022 and used generalized linear mixed effect models to test urbanization intensity as a predictor of the relative abundances of Ae. albopictus and Ae. triseriatus. Our results indicate that within this small study area, the relative abundances of Ae. albopictus and Ae. triseriatus vary substantially depending on urbanization intensity and trap type. We will discuss how our findings add to our understanding of LACV transmission risk in east Tennessee.