What is an arbovirus?
Arbovirus is short for arthropod-borne virus. Arboviruses are a large group of viruses that are spread primarily by blood-feeding insects like mosquitoes and ticks. In the united States, mosquitoes are the arthropod most responsible for the spread of arboviruses. These viruses cause diseases such as West Nile virus infection, Eastern Equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and Powassan encephalitis. Arboviruses are maintained in nature in a cycle of transmission (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/schemat.) between an animal host (the reservoir) and the mosquito or tick. To Submit a Disease Report: Tel: 800 821-5821 Fax: 800 293-7534 You May Also Visit the Federal CDC Website At: CDC.
. Arboviruses (Arthropod-borne viruses) cause diseases such as West Nile virus infection, eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, Powassan encephalitis, etc. They are viruses that are transmitted by blood feeding arthropods like mosquitoes and ticks. Arboviruses are maintained in nature in a cycle of transmission between an animal host (the reservoir) and the mosquito or tick. Transmission of Arboviruses Q. How do people get infected with West Nile (WNV) or eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus? A. The main route of human infection with West Nile and EEE virus is through the bite of an infected mosquito. Neither virus can be passed between people by coughing, sneezing, shaking hands, sharing food, etc. Additional routes of human infection were identified for WNV during the 2002 West Nile epidemic. It is important to note that these other methods of transmission represent a very small proportion of cases.
