The Effects of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Mosquito-borne Viruses

Justin R. Anderson, PhD, associate professor of biology at Radford University, describes his research on the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on mosquito-borne viruses, presented at ASM Microbe 2016.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

"My research is involved in looking at ways that mosquitos transmit mosquito-borne viruses and how we can eventually block that transmission.

The research I presented today is on how contaminants in the environment affect mosquito development and potentially the replication of a mosquito-borne virus called La Crosse virus. La Crosse virus is a mosquito-borne virus that is not terribly important, but it can cause pediatric encephalitis. Maybe 70 cases a year are reported in the eastern United States, but it’s a very good model system for us to understand how viruses can replicate inside mosquitoes. We looked at exposing mosquitoes to endocrine disrupting chemicals, what effect those EDCs had on the development of the mosquito, and then in a separate experiment what the endocrine disrupters did to virus replication."