1. - Trailing the life-blood of a cemetery -
Chasing Arboviruses in Vector Mosquitoes at Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Texas
- Trailing the life-blood of a cemetery -
By Benedict Khoo, Jenny Martinez, Dr. Jeffrey Flosi
University of Houston - Downtown
Scholars Academy SURP 2007

2. Introduction Species of interest Arthropod-borne Virus
Culex quinquefasciatus (Southern House Mosquito)
Aedes albopictus (Asian Tiger Mosquito)
Arthropod-borne Virus
West Nile Virus (WNV); St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE)
Transmission: Cold-Chain of Evidence
Why are we interested?
Purpose 1: Site 1 vs. Site 2
Purpose 2: CDC vs. GRV
Purpose 3: Presence of Arboviruses

3. Materials Mosquito Traps Other equipment and materials
2 Gravitraps (GRV) baited with grass-and-yeast-infused water
2 CDC miniature light traps baited with dry ice (CO2)
Other equipment and materials
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Set Traps (1pm – 3pm)
(7am – 11am) Pick-Up; Process
VECTEST (7am – 11am)
Carrying Out
VECTEST Procedures
Set-Up of Site
Pick-Up of Traps
Processing

4. Results Purpose 1: Site 1 vs. Site 2 Purpose 2: CDC vs. GRV
Total number of mosquitoes
476 mosquitoes in 4 trap nights
7 species, 4 genera represented
Predominant species
Purpose 1: Site 1 vs. Site 2
Purpose 2: CDC vs. GRV
Purpose 3: Arboviruses (negative)
Conclusions Regarding Hypothesis
n = 169
n = 307
n = 58
n = 418

6. Discussion Climatological events affecting capture of adult mosquitoes
Flooding and loss of breeding sites near assigned trap locations
~ Future Work