Further Evidence of Western Encephalitis Infection in Saskatchewan Mammals and Birds and in Reindeer in Northern Canada

• Main Authors: Burton,A. N., McLintock,J.
• Other Authors: SASKATCHEWAN UNIV SASKATOON
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1970
• Subjects: Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine; Microbiology; (*WESTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRUS; VERTEBRATES); (*CULEX; WESTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS VIRUS); (*VIRUS DISEASES; ARBOVIRUSES; INFECTIONS; INFECTIOUS DISEASES; EPIDEMIOLOGY; CULICIDAE; BIRDS; MAMMALS; VETERINARY MEDICINE; SERODIAGNOSIS; ANTIGENS + ANTIBODIES; CANADA; DISEASE VECTORS; WILDLIFE; HOST PARASITE RELATIONS; CULEX TARSALIS; Canada; Norman Wells; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0718155; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0718155

By means of serum neutralization tests, additional vertebrate hosts of the WE virus have been identified in Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. Infection rates indicate that pigs might be more sensitive indicators of virus activity in nature than domestic poultry. The known northern distribution of Culex tarsalis is reviewed. C. tarsalis is the principal epidemic transmitter of WE in Western Canada. Although this mosquito has been recorded as far north as Norman Wells, N.W.T., it is not abundant north of the prairie farmlands. It is concluded that transmission of the virus to wildlife in these northern areas must be accomplished by Culiseta inornata or the hordes of pest Aedes mosquitoes. (Author)