M. Labuda et al., NON-VIREMIC TRANSMISSION OF TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS-VIRUS - A MECHANISM FOR ARBOVIRUS SURVIVAL IN NATURE, Experientia, 49(9), 1993, pp. 802-805
The vectors of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) become infected b
y feeding on the viraemic blood of an infected animal. This theory is
based on transmission studies involving artificial infection of verteb
rate hosts by syringe inoculation. To reproduce natural conditions of
virus transmission, infected and uninfected vectors (ticks) of tick-bo
rne encephalitis virus, the most important arbovirus in Europe, were a
llowed to feed together on uninfected wild vertebrate hosts. The great
est numbers of infected ticks were obtained from susceptible host spec
ies that had undetectable or very low levels of viraemia. The results
suggest that 'nonviremic transmission' is an important mechanism for t
he survival of certain arboviruses in nature.