ISOLATION OF JAPANESE TYPE B ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS FROM MOSQUITOES

1.Just prior to an outbreak of Japanese B encephalitis in Dairen,a strain of virus was isolated from a pool of Culex tritaemorhynchus mosquitoes collected in a cow shed in Dairen.Another strain of virus was isolated from a pool of Culex pipiens var.pallens collected in a human dwelling situated in the neighbourhood of the cow shed durnig the middle of the epidemic.Both virus strains were identified as Japanese B encephalitis virus by complement fixation and neutralization tests. 2.The time in which the Japanese B encephalitis virus strains were isolated from mosquitoes coincided with the height of seasonal distribution of the mosquitoes in Dairen. These findings had an important bearing on the epidemiology of Japanese B encephalitis in this part of China.The r(?)le that Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Culex pipiens var. pallens might play in disseminating Japanese B encephalitis virus among animals and human beings was elucidated.