MULTIPLE BLOOD FEEDING BY MOSQUITOES

每日存活的概率和人类吸血的频率是蚊子传播病原体的两个最敏感的因素。大多数病媒传播疾病的模型假设，蚊子的生存和摄食行为不会随着年龄的增长而改变。到目前为止，这一假设还没有受到强烈挑战，因为没有准确的方法来估计蚊子一生中不同流行病学阶段的年龄，也没有准确的方法来确定蚊子叮咬过的人；测量蚊子的年龄和宿主的摄食方式是困难的或不可能的。我们已经开发出新颖、更准确的方法，首次可以确定随着蚊子媒介年龄的增长和传染性的增强，宿主接触的存活率和频率是否会增加。在这项更新建议中，我们将使用这些方法来验证埃及伊蚊的每日生存概率和人类吸血频率随着蚊子年龄的增长而增加的假设。老年雌伊蚊。埃及伊蚊在流行病学上是最重要的，因为它们比年轻的蚊子更容易感染和传播登革热病毒。为了确定大约21天龄的野生蚊子的实际年龄，我们分析了表皮碳氢化合物（CH）。我们可以用DNA指纹识别程序来重建蚊子的吸血行为，这种程序可以识别蚊子从谁身上取食。标记-再捕获研究中的高再捕获率（约30%）使我们能够调查自然环境中自由放养的蚊子的生存、传播和吸血情况。我们的研究有两个具体目标，我们将在泰国西北部进行，在那里Ae。埃及伊蚊传播的登革热病毒是地方性的。在目标1中，我们将对观察到的野生蚊子的年龄结构（CH年龄分级）和摄食模式（DNA指纹）与假设这些传播成分随着蚊子年龄的增长保持不变的模式进行比较。在Aim 2中直接测试我们的研究假设之前，我们将定义当前标记重新捕获方法的局限性，并为随后的生存、扩散和供血年龄依赖性差异实验选择最佳程序。在我们的最后一组实验中，我们将通过释放2个不同年龄的队列，比较它们的再捕获率、存活率和吸血行为，直接测试蚊子存活率和吸血频率随年龄增长而增加的观点。每次实验结束时的杀虫剂处理将在任何幸存的释放蚊子变得具有传染性和传播病毒之前杀死它们。

Daily probability of survival and frequency of human blood- feeding are the 2 most sensitive components of a mosquito's role in pathogen transmission. Most models of vector-borne diseases assume that survival and feeding behavior do not change as mosquitoes grow older. Until now this assumption has not been strongly challenged because accurate methods for estimating age across epidemiologically different portions of a mosquito's lifetime or identifying the people a mosquito had bitten were not available; measurement of mosquito chronological age and host- feeding patterns were difficult or impossible. We have developed novel, more accurate methods that can determine for the 1st time if survival and frequency of host contact increase as mosquito vectors grow older and become infective. In this renewal proposal we will use these methods to test the hypothesis that Aedes aegypti's daily probability of survival and frequency of human blood-feeding increase as mosquitoes age. Older female Ae. aegypti are epidemiologically most important, because they are more likely to be infected with and transmit dengue virus than younger mosquitoes. To determine the chronological age of wild mosquitoes up to approximately 21 days of age we analyze cuticular hydrocarbons (CH). We can reconstruct mosquito blood- feeding behavior with a DNA fingerprinting procedure that identifies the person(s) from which a mosquito took its meal(s). High recapture rates in mark-recapture studies (approximately 30 percent) allow us to investigate survival, dispersal, and blood- feeding for free-ranging mosquitoes in the natural environment. Our study has 2 specific aims that we will carry out in northwestern Thailand, where Ae. aegypti-borne dengue virus is endemic. In Aim 1 we will compare the observed age structure (CH age-grading) and feeding patterns (DNA fingerprinting) of wild mosquitoes to the patterns expected under the assumption that these components of transmission remain constant as mosquitoes grow older. Before directly testing our research hypothesis in Aim 2 we will define the limitations of our current mark- recapture methods and select the best procedure for subsequent experiments on age-dependent differences in survival, dispersal, and blood-feeding. In our last set of experiments we will directly test the idea that dynamics in survival and blood- feeding frequency increase with mosquito age by releasing 2 distinct age cohorts and comparing their recapture rates, survival, and blood-feeding behavior. Insecticide treatments at the end of each experiment will kill any surviving released mosquitoes before they could become infective and transmit virus.