Vector competence of Aedes hendersoni (Diptera: Culicidae) for La Crosse virus: lack of impaired function in virus-infected salivary glands and enhanced virus transmission by sporozoite-infected mosquitoes.

Previous research has shown Aedes hendersoni Cockerell to be an incompetent vector of La Crosse (LAC) virus because of a salivary gland escape (SGE) barrier; that is, the salivary glands are infected but the mosquito fails to transmit the virus orally. Intradermal probing behavior and ability to locate blood were studied in infected mosquitoes as indicators of salivary gland impairment to determine if the SGE barrier was due to virus-induced pathology of the salivary glands. No evidence of salivary gland impairment as a result of virus infection was detected in infected Ae. hendersoni. This was also true for Aedes triseriatus (Say), a competent vector of LAC virus, which was used as a control. However, coinfection of Ae. hendersoni with Plasmodium gallinaceum and LAC virus dramatically increased virus transmission (72 versus 8%), whereas transmission by coinfected Ae. triseriatus was not significantly affected. Possible causes for the SGE barrier in Ae. hendersoni are discussed.