A 6-year-old child from a rice-growing district of Uttar Pradesh presents with acute encephalitis during the monsoon. Surveillance teams identify the mosquito vector breeding abundantly in the flooded paddy fields. The principal vector of this condition in India also has which animal acting as its amplifying host?
- A Pigs ✓
- B Cattle
- C Goats
- D Rabbits
Correct answer: A. Pigs
Explanation
Japanese encephalitis in India is transmitted mainly by Culex tritaeniorhynchus, a rice-field breeding mosquito of the Culex vishnui group. The virus circulates between mosquitoes and vertebrate hosts, with the pig serving as the principal amplifying host because it develops high-titre viraemia without severe disease. Cattle are not efficient amplifiers since they do not sustain significant viraemia. This epidemiology underlies measures such as placing pigsties away from dwellings alongside vaccination of children.
Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.