日本脳炎ウイルスの生態学的研究.1968年の調査成績

A serial survey on the ecology of Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus was made in 1968. Virus isolation was negative from 848 hibernated females of Culex tritaeniorhynchus collected in March to early May. In mid May, when newly emerged females appeared, and thereafter, attempts to isolate the virus were continued, but it was July 23 that the first isolation was made. A strain of JE virus was isolated each from C. pseudovishnui in early August and from Aedes vexans nipponii in late July. Eight other species of mosquitoes were negative for JE virus throughout the year. The pigs susceptible to JE virus were exposed in nature to mosquitoes including hibernated females of C. tritaeniorhynchus in spring without detecting the rise in hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody in their sera. Continuing the exposure to mosquitoes, the HI antibody was detected only after early August. The number of human cases was smaller than in any of the previous three years. One of the reasons is considered to be that the number of vector mosquitoes was smaller at the time of the epizootic in pigs.前年までに引き続き,1968年に日本脳炎ウイルスの生態学的調査を行なった.3月-5月上旬に採集したコガタアカイエカ越冬雌成虫848個体からはウイルスは分離されなかった.新生雌成虫が出現し始めた5月中旬及びそれ以後も分離を試みたが,始めて日本脳炎ウイルスが分離できたのは7月23日であった.シロハシイエカからは8月上旬に,キンイロヤプカからは7月下旬に,各々1株の日本脳炎ウイルスが分離された.感受性の豚を各々1頭ずつ2月下旬に3部落の豚舎に配って,自然に蚊から吸血されるままにして飼育し続けて,HI抗体が出現する時期を調べたが,抗体が検出されたのは8月上旬以降であった.発生患者数は,過去3年の何れにおけるよりも少なかった.その理由の1つは,豚で日本脳炎の流行が起っている時期のコガタアカイエカの数が少なかったことであると考えられる