I tested a theoretical model proposing that anemia
favors transmission of blood-borne parasites to vectors
by accelerating the blood-feeding rate. Using Aedes
aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, initially, I was not
able to confirm this phenomenon either in an artificial
or a live system; anemia did not correlate with blood-feeding
rate, time or volume. I then analyzed the
feeding rate over different time intervals to examine the
possibility that inconsistent feeding rates masked the
expected results; a comparison of the blood-feeding rate
at one particular time period supports the theory.
I then continued investigating the influence of
anemia on egg production of mosquitoes and found that
anemia has negative influence on vector's fecundity. I
conclude that although anemia has opposite influences on
mosquitoes in blood-feeding rate and egg production, they
can get, at least under certain conditions, benefit from
blood-feeding on anemic hosts. / Graduation date: 1992
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/36584 |
| Date | 06 June 1991 |
| Creators | Shieh, Jong-Neng |
| Contributors | Rossignol, Philippe A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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