{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T15:32:07Z","timestamp":1793201527685,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":1,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000199","name":"United States Department of Agriculture","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["# 2022\u201367015-36343"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["# 2022\u201367015-36343"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000199","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch","award":["#6070"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#6070"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05qx3fv49","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100019191","name":"Texas A&M AgriLife Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100019191","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Equine hepacivirus (EqHV) is a hepatotropic virus, closely related to human hepatitis C virus (HCV), that can cause acute or chronic infection in horses. As with HCV, transmission is thought to occur primarily through parenteral, particularly blood-borne, routes. Vertical transmission from mare to foal has been reported but appears to be uncommon. The high seroprevalence in horse populations and the occurrence of infection in isolated horses indicate efficient horizontal transmission routes exist. One such possibility is biological or mechanical transmission by arthropods, such as mosquitoes, stable flies, or ticks. Here, we conducted 2 complementary studies to evaluate the possible role of mosquitoes as EqHV biological vectors. In the laboratory, we orally exposed Aedes albopictus (Skuse) females to EqHV through artificial bloodfeeding with blood collected from 2 chronically infected horses. Mosquito samples (body, legs, and saliva) were collected at multiple time points post-exposure and tested for EqHV RNA by molecular assays. In the field, 2,138 mosquitoes were collected from New York and Florida, United States, and screened for EqHV RNA. No EqHV RNA was detected in any samples from the laboratory experiment or among field-collected mosquitoes. These findings indicate that the Ae. albopictus strain evaluated here is unlikely to serve as a biological vector of EqHV and corroborate previous negative findings in field-collected mosquitoes. Nevertheless, low infection rates may have gone undetected. Laboratory studies of additional horse-feeding mosquito species and expanded field collections in EqHV-endemic regions are needed to further clarify any potential role for mosquitoes in EqHV transmission.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jme\/tjag121","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]],"date-time":"2026-09-05T15:24:45Z","timestamp":1788621885000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluation of mosquito transmission of equine hepacivirus in laboratory and field studies"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"63","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1474-0889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tereza","family":"Magalhaes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Danilo de","family":"Carvalho Leandro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Col\u00e9gio de Aplica\u00e7\u00e3o, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife , PE,","place":["Brazil"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emrah","family":"Ozel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiao","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Brandon","family":"Lyons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1545-4067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Troels K H","family":"Scheel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP), Department of Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital and Department of Immunology and Microbiology, , Copenhagen,","place":["Denmark"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8744-4170","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jordan","family":"Salomon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1693-2147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela","family":"Luethy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida , Gainesville, FL,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Department of Clinical Studies - New Bolton Center, , Kennett Square, PA,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6159-8358","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Phillip E","family":"Kaufman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station , TX,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7365-3967","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joy E","family":"Tomlinson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Department of Clinical Studies - New Bolton Center, , Kennett Square, PA,","place":["USA"]},{"name":"Baker Institute for Animal Health, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine , Ithaca, NY,","place":["USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1089\/153036604773083013","article-title":"Host feeding patterns of established and potential mosquito vectors of West Nile virus in the eastern United States","volume":"4","author":"Apperson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/v11111014","article-title":"No evidence of mosquito involvement in the transmission of equine hepacivirus (Flaviviridae) in an epidemiological survey of Austrian horses","volume":"11","author":"Badenhorst","year":"2019","journal-title":"Viruses"},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104003","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jevs.2022.104003","article-title":"Global prevalence of RNA-positive horses for hepacivirus (EqHV): Systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"114","author":"Bezerra","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Equine Vet. Sci."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.20.2400271","article-title":"Aedes albopictus is a competent vector of five arboviruses affecting human health, greater Paris, France, 2023","volume":"29","author":"Bohers","year":"2024","journal-title":"Euro Surveill."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"166","DOI":"10.1111\/mve.12164","article-title":"Culex pipiens and Stegomyia albopicta (= Aedes albopictus) populations as vectors for lineage 1 and 2 West Nile virus in Europe","volume":"30","author":"Brustolin","year":"2016","journal-title":"Med. Vet. Entomol."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6171","DOI":"10.1128\/JVI.00250-12","article-title":"Serology-enabled discovery of genetically diverse hepaciviruses in a new host","volume":"86","author":"Burbelo","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Virol."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1172","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.2010.09-0323","article-title":"Sources of error in the estimation of mosquito infection rates used to assess risk of arbovirus transmission","volume":"82","author":"Bustamante","year":"2010","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0013516","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0013516","article-title":"Transmission potential of Culex and Aedes species for Madariaga virus, a member of the eastern equine encephalitis virus complex","volume":"20","author":"Carvalho-Leandro","year":"2026","journal-title":"PLoS Negl. Trop. 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Entomol."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1354","DOI":"10.1111\/tbed.12679","article-title":"Equine hepacivirus persistent infection in a horse with chronic wasting","volume":"64","author":"Elia","year":"2017","journal-title":"Transbound. Emerg. Dis."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"320","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.21-0157","article-title":"The effects of host availability and fitness on Aedes albopictus blood feeding patterns in New York","volume":"106","author":"Fikrig","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"474","DOI":"10.1186\/s12917-025-04890-x","article-title":"First detection of equine hepacivirus RNA in Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera, Muscidae) in eastern Austria","volume":"21","author":"Frisch","year":"2025","journal-title":"BMC Vet. 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Hepatol."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/insects9040177","article-title":"Sequential infection of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Chikungunya virus and Zika virus enhances early Zika virus transmission","volume":"9","author":"Magalhaes","year":"2018","journal-title":"Insects"},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103169","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ibmb.2019.05.004","article-title":"Induction of RNA interference to block Zika virus replication and transmission in the mosquito Aedes aegypti","volume":"111","author":"Magalhaes","year":"2019","journal-title":"Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol."},{"key":"2026102810364159700_tjag121-B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1977.26.547","article-title":"Host feeding patterns of Connecticut mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)","volume":"26","author":"Magnarelli","year":"1977","journal-title":"Am. J. Trop. Med. 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