Host-Feeding Patterns of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Urban and Rural Contexts within Rome Province, Italy Export

@article{doi:10.1089/vbz.2009.0007, abstract = {Knowledge of the frequency of contact between a mosquito species and its different hosts is essential to understandthe role of each vector species in the transmission of diseases to humans and=or animals. However, nodata are so far available on the feeding habits of Aedes albopictus in Italy or in other recently colonized temperateregions of Europe, due to difficulties in collecting blood-fed females of this diurnal and exophilic species. Weanalyzed Ae. albopictus host-feeding patterns in two urban and two rural sites within the area of Rome (Italy). Ae.albopictus was collected using sticky-traps and the blood-meal origin of 303 females was determined by directdot-ELISA. The blood-fed sample, although representing only 4\% of the total Ae. albopictus collected, demonstratesthe useful application of sticky-trap in studying the feeding behavior of the species. The human bloodindex was significantly different among sites, ranging from 79–96\% in urban sites to 23–55\% in rural sites, wherehorses and bovines represented the most bitten hosts. The results obtained confirm the plastic feeding behaviorshown by Ae. albopictus in its original range of distribution and highlights the high potential of this species as avector of human pathogens in urban areas of Italy, where both humans and the mosquito itself may reach veryhigh densities.}, author = {Valerio, Laura and Marini, Francesca and Bongiorno, Gioia and Facchinelli, Luca and Pombi, Marco and Caputo, Beniamino and Maroli, Michele and Della Torre, Alessandra}, citeulike-article-id = {5846850}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/vbz.2009.0007}, journal = {Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases}, keywords = {aedes\_albopictus, host-feeding, italy}, number = {Not available-, ahead of print}, posted-at = {2009-09-28 12:18:59}, priority = {2}, title = {Host-Feeding Patterns of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Urban and Rural Contexts within Rome Province, Italy}, url = {http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/vbz.2009.0007}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - doi:10.1089/vbz.2009.0007 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5846850 N2 - Knowledge of the frequency of contact between a mosquito species and its different hosts is essential to understandthe role of each vector species in the transmission of diseases to humans and=or animals. However, nodata are so far available on the feeding habits of Aedes albopictus in Italy or in other recently colonized temperateregions of Europe, due to difficulties in collecting blood-fed females of this diurnal and exophilic species. Weanalyzed Ae. albopictus host-feeding patterns in two urban and two rural sites within the area of Rome (Italy). Ae.albopictus was collected using sticky-traps and the blood-meal origin of 303 females was determined by directdot-ELISA. The blood-fed sample, although representing only 4% of the total Ae. albopictus collected, demonstratesthe useful application of sticky-trap in studying the feeding behavior of the species. The human bloodindex was significantly different among sites, ranging from 79–96% in urban sites to 23–55% in rural sites, wherehorses and bovines represented the most bitten hosts. The results obtained confirm the plastic feeding behaviorshown by Ae. albopictus in its original range of distribution and highlights the high potential of this species as avector of human pathogens in urban areas of Italy, where both humans and the mosquito itself may reach veryhigh densities. IS - Not available-, ahead of print JF - Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases TI - Host-Feeding Patterns of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Urban and Rural Contexts within Rome Province, Italy KW - aedes_albopictus KW - host-feeding KW - italy AU - Valerio, Laura AU - Marini, Francesca AU - Bongiorno, Gioia AU - Facchinelli, Luca AU - Pombi, Marco AU - Caputo, Beniamino AU - Maroli, Michele AU - Della Torre, Alessandra PY - 2009/// UR - http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/vbz.2009.0007 ER -