Japanese encephalitis is endemic in parts of India and South-East Asia. Its principal mosquito vector and the animal that serves as the main amplifying host are respectively:

• A Aedes aegypti and monkeys
• B Culex tritaeniorhynchus and pigs ✓
• C Anopheles culicifacies and cattle
• D Mansonia uniformis and rodents

Explanation

Japanese encephalitis virus is transmitted primarily by Culex tritaeniorhynchus, which breeds in rice paddies and bites preferentially outdoors at dusk. Pigs develop high-titre viraemia without illness and act as the chief amplifying hosts near human dwellings, while wading birds such as herons serve as reservoirs. Aedes aegypti is the vector of dengue and yellow fever, cattle are dead-end hosts, and Mansonia species transmit brugian filariasis rather than JE.

Reference: Ananthanarayan and Paniker's Textbook of Microbiology, 12th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.