Experimental Vector Incompetence of a Soft Tick, Ornithodoros sonrai (Acari: Argasidae), for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus
Abstract
Adults and nymphs of a soft tick, Ornithodoros sonrai Sautet and Witkowski, were allowed to feed on suckling mice that had been experimentally infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus (IbAr 10200 strain). The mean viral titer of mouse blood at the time of tick feeding was 10(3.2) plaque-forming units (PFU) per ml. Samples of ticks were assayed on 12 occasions between days 0 and 31 after the viremic blood meal. Mean CCHF viral titers were 10(2.1) PFU per tick immediately after the viremic meal but declined to 10(1.2) PFU per tick after 2 d, and no virus was detected beyond 8 d. The percentage of ticks with detectable virus was 92% (22/24) immediately after the viremic meal, but then declined to 20% (2/10) after 4 dand to 0% (0/44) after 11 or more days. Ticks were allowed to feed on sets of three naive sickling mice on days 0, 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 21, and 28 after the viremic blood meal, but CCHF viral transmission did not occur. Similarly, no transovarial transmission of virus from CCHF virus- exposed O. sonrai to their progeny was observed. These results strongly indicate that O. sonrai is not a vector of CCHF virus
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA265568
Entities
People
- Kenneth J. Linthicum
- Lance A. Durden
- Mark L. Wilson
- Thomas M. Logan
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases