Why is knowledge of a mosquitos blood meal host preference important to understanding how diseases are spread?
Mosquitoes are the primary method of arthropod-borne pathogen transmission between animals. Urban and suburban sprawl continues to facilitate interactions between humans and mosquitoes. In addition to variation in a mosquito’s blood meal host preference, there are differences in vector competence (i.e. the ability of a mosquito to become infected with and subsequently transmit a pathogen). Knowledge of the interplay between a mosquito’s host feeding pattern and vector competence is an essential component in determining how diseases are spread because control measures can be targeted to specific mosquito species and populations. Several pathogens of public health importance in the United States such as Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), and West Nile virus (WNV) are maintained in enzootic cycles between birds and bird-feeding mosquitoes in the genera Culex and Culiseta (Figure 2). Humans and other mamm
