Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to determine (1) if Culex mosquitoes could transmit Turlock (TUR) virus to avian hosts and (2) if Culex tarsalis is more susceptible to TUR virus infection than Cx. pipiens complex mosquitoes. Transmission was accomplished by 13 (41%) of 32 infected Culex pipiens pipiens 20 days after feeding on chicks that were circulating 3.7–4.8 log10 PFU of TUR virus per millilitre of blood. A comparison of infection rates among Cx. tarsalis, Cx. p. pipiens , and Cx. pipiens quinquefasciatus that had fed on viremic chickens and House Sparrows showed that Cx. tarsalis contained virus after 3 and 8 days of extrinsic incubation more often than the other mosquitoes. These results support the hypotheses that TUR virus is an arbovirus and that its distribution in North America is limited to western states and Canadian provinces by the distribution of Cx. tarsalis .
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