Ecological effects on arbovirus-mosquito cycles of transmission

Mosquitoes transmit many viruses to a variety of hosts. Cycles of mosquito borne arbovirus transmission are the result of complex interactions between the mosquito, the arbovirus and the host that are influenced by genetic variations in a variety of traits in each that are all influenced by many environmental factors. R0, the basic reproduction number or mean number of individuals infected from a single infected individual, is a measure of mosquito borne arbovirus transmission. Understanding the causes for the distribution of R0 in any transmission cycle is a daunting challenge due to the lack of information on the genetic and environmental variances that influence R0. Information about the major factors influencing R0 for specific transmission cycles is essential to develop efficient and effective strategies to reduce transmission in different cycles and locations.