Citation:

Kutz, F W., T G. Wade, AND B. B. Pagac. A GEOSPATIAL STUDY OF THE POTENTIAL OF TWO EXOTIC SPECIES OF MOSQUITOES TO IMPACT THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF WEST NITLE VIRUS IN MARYLAND. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MOSQUITO CONTROL ASSOCIATION 19(3):190-198, (2003).

Impact/Purpose:

The primary objectives of this research are to:

Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;

Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;

Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;

Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;

Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.

This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.

Description:

Geospatial techniques were used to study the potential impact of two exotic mosquitoes, the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Ochlerotatus japonicus japonicus (Theobald), on the epidemiology of West Nile virus in Maryland. These two species have established populations in Maryland over the past 15 years. The larval habitats of both mosquito species are natural and artificial water-holding containers; water in tires appears to be favored larval environment. Therefore, locations of licensed tire dealers and of tire dumps scheduled for clean-up were used as a surrogate for sources of mosquito vectors. Since discarded tires are a common trash item in developed areas, this surrogate was deemed to underestimate the actual population of source habitats. West Nile virus activity from 1999, 2000 and 2001 was indicated by the presence of dead, infected birds, particularly American crows and other corvids; infected pools of mosquitoes; and human and horse infections. Susceptible vertebrate hosts, particularly birds, are ubiquitously distributed throughout the developed areas of the State. This analysis demonstrated a spatial convergence of the virus, the exotic mosquito vectors and susceptible hosts. This conjunction indicated that these two mosquito species have a high potential to serve as vectors, and thus impact the epidemiology of West Nile virus under favorable environmental and climatic conditions. Positive mosquito pools were collected only from the Baltimore- Washington metropolitan corridor suggesting a newly created enzootic focus for this virus Land-cover analysis of the sites where virus activity had been detected showed predominantly developed land uses. Most of the sites were in urban areas suggesting that exposure to West Nile virus may be an environmental justice issue.

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