Arbovirus Infections in Sarawak: Further Observations on Mosquitoes

Abstract

Mosquitoes were collected in urban and suburban areas, coastal areas, inland rural areas and inland forest areas of Sarawak to study the etiology of virus encephalitis. The mosquitoes were collected from human and pig bait, and from resting sites around pig-pens, poultry-houses, and cattle-sheds. Biting preferences of the common species are indicated. More than 72,000 mosquitoes of some 80 species were collected. Most of them were ground up and inoculated into suckling mice in attempts to isolate viruses. Five strains of Japanese encephalitis virus were isolated from Culex gelidus Theobald, one strain from C. tritaeniorhynchus Giles, another from a pool of mixed Culex species, and a last strain from Aedes curtipes Edwards.