MOSQUITOES OF THULE AIR BASE, GREENLAND

Thule Air Base in western Greenland had a previously uncharacterized mosquito pest problem. Swarms of bloodfeeding mosquitoes have been reported from June to late August, but the species were unknown. We conducted a base-wide mosquito vector survey from June to July 2012. One species of mosquito, Aedes impiger, was collected and >3,000 were processed for polymerase chain reaction-based virus surveillance. Active mosquito breeding sites were located throughout the base and surrounding valley. Two pools of mosquitoes from Thule Air Base tested positive for an Orthobunyavirus; however, DNA sequencing of the viral amplicons was not complete enough to fully identify the agent.