The finding that LACV is able to infect very efficiently via the nasal route has possible implications for the ecology of the virus. It is possible that infectious virus is present in water collections containing Aedes mosquito larvae, e.g., tree holes, since the virus has been shown to be transmitted from infected mosquitoes to larvae via eggs. A mammalian host that drinks the water would intake both fluid, which might contain free virus from lysed larvae, and infected larvae, either of which could initiate an infection in the mammalian host. Thus, exposure to such water could lead to an alternate route of infection for the natural hosts, i.e., the oral/nasal route in addition to the vectorbourne route. This hypothesis needs to be confirmed experimentally but remains an interesting possibility.