Ecological effects on arbovirus-mosquito cycles of transmission

Abstract

Mosquitoes transmit many viruses to a variety of hosts. Cycles of mosquito borne arbovirus transmission are the result of complex interactions between the mosquito, the arbovirus and the host that are influenced by genetic variations in a variety of traits in each that are all influenced by many environmental factors. R₀, the basic reproduction number or mean number of individuals infected from a single infected individual, is a measure of mosquito borne arbovirus transmission. Understanding the causes for the distribution of R₀ in any transmission cycle is a daunting challenge due to the lack of information on the genetic and environmental variances that influence R₀. Information about the major factors influencing R₀ for specific transmission cycles is essential to develop efficient and effective strategies to reduce transmission in different cycles and locations.