Location: Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-023-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Jun 21, 2018
End Date: May 30, 2022
Objective:
Identify factors associated with Flavivirus infections, pathogenesis, and maintenance in vectors and animal hosts to inform prevention and mitigation strategies including identifying factors associated with JEV maintenance in relevant mosquito vectors; characterizing susceptibility, pathogenesis, and clinical disease of JEV in domestic pigs; and characterizing vector-host interactions with JEV transmission.
Subobjective 1A: Identify factors associated with JEV maintenance in relevant mosquito vectors.
Subobjective 1B: Characterize susceptibility, pathogenesis, and clinical disease of JEV in domestic pigs.
Subobjective 1C: Characterize vector-host interactions associated with JEV transmission.
Approach:
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) endemic to Asia, where it is the most important cause of viral encephalitis in humans and a significant cause of reproductive and neonatal loss in swine. JEV transmission does not currently occur in the U.S.; however, North American mosquitoes have recently been demonstrated to be competent virus vectors. JEV is closely related to the West Nile Virus, a formerly foreign arbovirus that was introduced into the U.S. in 1999 and quickly became established across most of the country. Pigs are considered to be primary amplifying hosts for JEV; infected pigs are capable of replicating the virus to high titers and are thought to fuel outbreaks by serving as sources of virus for mosquitoes. Although JEV has been studied for 7 decades, considerable knowledge gaps exist regarding its transmission, particularly in the pig-mosquito segment of its cycle. The goal of this project is to better understand mammalian host (pig) and vector (mosquito) factors that permit transmission of JEV in order to identify actions to break the transmission cycle and develop new detection and prevention tools. These gains will support not only livestock health and food security, but also the protection of human health.
