The Ecology and Evolution of Japanese Encephalitis Virus

Abstract

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus mainly spread by Culex mosquitoes that currently has a geographic distribution across most of Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Infection with JEV can cause Japanese encephalitis (JE), a severe disease with a high mortality rate, which also results in ongoing sequalae in many survivors. The natural reservoir of JEV is ardeid wading birds, such as egrets and herons, but pigs commonly play an important role as an amplifying host during outbreaks in human populations. Other domestic animals and wildlife have been detected as hosts for JEV, but their role in the ecology and epidemiology of JEV is uncertain. Safe and effective JEV vaccines are available, but unfortunately, their use remains low in most endemic countries where they are most needed. Increased surveillance and diagnosis of JE is required as climate change and social disruption are likely to facilitate further geographical expansion of Culex vectors and JE risk areas.

Keywords: Asia; Culex; JEV; Japanese encephalitis; ecology; epidemiology; flavivirus; pigs; wading birds; zoonotic.

Figure 1

Overview of the Japanese encephalitis virus transmission cycle.

Figure 2

Map of the distribution of JEV genotypes based on available C/prM, envelope, NS, and 5’UTR sequences (n = 1840). Strains with different gene sequences (same strain ID) or 100% identity were removed.