From BioMed Central
March 2, 2018

The infamous 2014 dengue-outbreak in Guangzhou, southern China reported over 45,000 cases. Although rarely as severe, outbreaks in this area are common due to the prevalence of the mosquito-vector Aedes albopictus. Originally considered a rural vector, Ae. albopictus has adapted to different urbanised settings. This species is also the culprit transmitting other viruses such as zika, yellow fever and chikungunya.

In response to a 2016 outbreak of zika in Guangzhou, a huge mosquito-breeding facility was built. There they reared Ae. albopictus mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria, an infection that causes infertility in the mosquito’s progeny (see previous blog).  The facility released over 20 million sterile male mosquitoes weekly in an attempt to control the local mosquito populations. Since there are no available vaccines nor treatment (except for the yellow fever vaccine) for these viruses, currently vector control is the only way to control these diseases. This relies heavily on the use of insecticides, which means the manifestation of Insecticide Resistance (IR) is a significant threat to the efficacy of these control programs.

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From Washington Square News
March 1, 2018

Researchers at NYU Dentistry have developed a new test for Zika through using saliva samples instead of blood samples. The test, completed in collaboration with a molecular testing company named Rheonix, was adapted from previous research done by the same team on a saliva-based HIV test.

The Zika virus can be traced for a much larger window of time in saliva and urine than it can in blood. To detect the virus, the test must be able to locate certain pathogens and antibodies. Zika is largely spread through mosquitoes but can be transmitted from a mother to her fetus and through sexual intercourse. It has also been known to cause birth defects.

Testing for Zika using saliva is much quicker than testing through blood. Blood tests can take hours or days to obtain results while saliva tests can be completed in a matter of minutes.

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From Smithsonian Magazine
February 28, 2018

Mosquitoes are coming. The Unicode Consortium has just announced that alongside your smiling face – or perhaps crying face – emoji you’ll soon be able to add a mosquito.

The mosquito emoji will join the rabble of emoji wildlife including butterflies, bees, whales and rabbits.

We see a strong case that the addition of the much maligned mosquito to your emoji toolbox could help health authorities battle the health risks associated with these bloodsucking pests.

Given it is the most dangerous animal on the planet, the mosquito is more than deserving of an emoji. But will it make a difference to the way the science behind mosquito research is communicated? Could it influence how the community engages with public health messages of local authorities? Will more people wear insect repellent because of the mosquito emoji?

We won’t know for sure until the mosquito is released.

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From Gizmodo
February 28, 2018

Since 2014, doctors have been stymied by a medical mystery: People, mostly children, were coming down with a previously unknown, polio-like illness that causes paralysis. Now, an international team of doctors published in The Lancet believe they’ve managed to confirm the main culprit.

Ever since the defeat of polio in the U.S. a half-century ago, reported cases of paralysis brought on by infection had been virtually non-existent. Mosquito-borne germs, like West Nile virus, are known to trigger a polio-like paralysis, while others can cause a rare autoimmune complication called Guillain-Barré syndrome, but neither happen with any regular frequency. Starting in 2014, though, doctors started seeing a spate of children suffering an acute and rapid weakening of their muscles and paralysis, primarily affecting the limbs, along with confirmed spinal cord damage. That year, there were 120 confirmed cases of this acute flaccid myelitis, as it’s formally known, found across 34 U.S. states, while 2016 saw 149 cases across 39 states. Several deaths have also been linked to the condition.

The afflicted children had little in common, except that some seemed to have been infected by an airborne virus related to polio known as Enterovirus D68 just before falling ill. EV-D68 infection had long been thought to cause nothing more than the common cold, and there had been only 26 reported cases of it in the U.S. from 1970 to 2005, following its initial discovery in the early 1960s. But both 2014 and 2016 had large outbreaks of EV-D68 that occurred around the same time that clusters of AFM were detected, while 2015 saw almost no cases of either the virus or the condition. And there’s been evidence that cases have stretched as far back as 2012.

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Not native to the small atoll 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, Aedes albopict likely came to Palmyra during World War II, when the United States took it over as a base of operations. The military imported many other species as well, including the common black rat, Rattus rattus, a large tree-dwelling rodent whose blood fed many of the mosquitoes. The rats also ate juvenile coconuts, leaving the shells as potential habitat for mosquito larvae.

In 2011, to help Palmyra recover from the ecological damage wreaked by the non-native rats, land managers implemented an aerial drop of rodenticide that quickly eradicated them. Without rats to feed on, the mosquitoes were left with only humans to bite. But rather than being bitten more, people eventually were not bitten at all. Researchers began to wonder if the Asian tiger mosquito had disappeared along with the rats. Now, in the journal Biology Letters, a team of UC Santa Barbara scientists and colleagues at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) chronicles this unique example of co-extinction.

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From Homeland Preparedness News
February 26, 2018

A new saliva-based diagnostic test for Zika virus is being developed by researchers at New York University College of Dentistry, in collaboration with Rheonix, Inc., and allows test results to be delivered in minutes rather than hours or days.

Current Zika testing is conducted using blood samples, but the virus typically disappears from the blood within a week or two of infection. It’s detectable in saliva, semen, and urine for longer, however.

“The recent Zika virus outbreak confirms that we need an effective surveillance and diagnostic program to reduce the impact of future emerging infectious diseases,” Maite Sabalza, a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology at NYU Dentistry and the lead author of the study, said.

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From Redwood City Patch
February 22, 2018

From San Mateo Co.: During their regularly scheduled meeting in January, the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District Board of Trustees held elections for the positions of President of the Board, Vice-President of the Board, Board Secretary, and Assistant Board Secretary. The trustees elected to these positions took office on Feb. 14th, and will serve for two years. “Donna Rutherford and Rick Wykoff showed great leadership and I hope we can keep the ship going to the same direction going forward,” said incoming President of the Board Joe Galligan, referring to the two previous board presidents. Galligan previously served as Vice President, and has been a member of the Board of Trustees since being appointed by the City of Burlingame in 2014. Wade Leschyn, appointed by the City of Belmont in 2014, takes Joe Gallingan’s place as Vice President of the Board. “I feel privileged to be chosen to serve the Mosquito and Vector Control District as one of its officers,” Leschyn said. “I know the important work the District does protecting the health of San Mateo County residents.

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From EurekAlert!
February 21, 2018

Zika virus, feared for causing microcephaly in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy by attacking the cells that will give rise to the fetus’s cerebral cortex, could be an alternative for treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive kind of malignant brain tumor in adults.

This discovery was made by researchers at the University of Campinas’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF-UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil.

“Zika virus, which has become a threat to health in the Americas, could be genetically modified to destroy glioblastoma cells,” said Rodrigo Ramos Catharino, a professor at FCF-UNICAMP and head of the institution’s Innovare Biomarker Laboratory.

Through the mass spectrometry analysis of Zika virus-infected glioblastoma cells, scientists also identified the presence of digoxin, a molecule which induced the death of tumoral cells of skin and breast cancer in previous experiments.

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From KHOU
February 20, 2018

Mosquito season has begun here in Texas, usually kicking off around early February, and along with it comes the threat of disease including Zika.

Dr. Slobodan Paessler with UTMB Galveston develops vaccines and has worked with mosquito borne diseases for 17-years.

“We don’t know what to expect for this season but we certainly have to continue monitoring for Zika,” said Paessler.

When the Zika epidemic hit in 2016, that’s where Paessler turned his attention, hoping to ensure a vaccine wouldn’t be rushed.

“The panic screaming for the federal bucks to develop a Zika vaccine is huge and there’s a lot of companies that are going into that direction right now. I think sometimes when we push, we maybe don’t do it as thorough as we should.”

Along with researchers from Germany and Singapore, Paessler decided to study the virus from a different perspective and found evidence that parts of the Zika virus closely resemble parts of the host’s own immune system, which may trigger the host’s body to mount a defense against both the Zika virus as well as its own complement system.

This is important for fetal development as well as for the immune system. This mistaken identity may contribute to the birth defects and adult neurological disorders seen in people who have been infected with Zika.

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Establishing a surveillance system and database will help mosquito-borne diseases from spreading

SACRAMENTO – As most of California experiences a drier and warmer than normal February, mosquito experts throughout the state are ramping up for what will most likely be an early and active mosquito season. In response, Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D – Hayward) has introduced legislation that will officially recognize a preventive surveillance system and database, known as CalSurv, which tracks and predicts where disease-spreading mosquitoes might emerge.

“It is critical that California supports the tools that will help us get ahead of potential threats to the public health, including the West Nile and Zika viruses,” said Assemblymember Quirk. “Real-time surveillance and improved statewide communications can help mosquito control agencies prevent the spread of invasive mosquitoes.”

The CalSurv Program provides centralized storage of data collection and analysis for the presence of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases throughout the state. UC Davis, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and local mosquito control agencies work together to provide real-time reporting and visualization of potentially dangerous mosquitoes and mosquito-borne virus activity.

CalSurv is currently housed at UC Davis. AB 2892 will foster further collaboration with CDPH and their Vector-Borne Disease section.

Since 2011, mosquito control professionals in California have been working to slow the spread of two invasive mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. These species are significant public health concerns, as they can transmit tropical viruses such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.

At the same time, California continues to combat West Nile and Saint Louis encephalitis viruses. The state reported more than 500 people infected with West Nile virus in 2017, more than a 10% jump from 2016. There are no vaccines for West Nile, Saint Louis encephalitis, or Zika viruses, which are costly to treat and can have long-term health and financial consequences.

“While predicting the level of mosquito activity year to year isn’t an exact science, keeping a close watch on contributing factors such as winter rains, warming temperatures, and mosquito populations can help show mosquito and virus activity trends that can potentially save lives. CalSurv is a critical component in our efforts to protect public health.” said David Heft, President of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC), which is sponsoring the bill.

“The work and monitoring done through CalSurv have been critical in preventing transmission of viruses carried by mosquitoes. Concurrently, mosquito control agencies have spent considerable resources trying to keep them out of their communities in an effort to prevent local transmission in the future. Ensuring continuous management of CalSurv is an important component to maintaining the health of California and vitality of our agricultural industry,” stated Assemblymember Quirk.

AB 2892 will be eligible to be heard in Committee in March.

For additional information on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/MosquitoBorneDiseases.aspx

Travelers should refer to the CDC’s Travel Advisories: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices

From Healio
February 16, 2018

When Omar S. Akbari, PhD, moved his lab of genetically modified mosquitoes from the University of California, Riverside, to the University of California, San Diego, he took only eggs, collecting some from each strain and sealing them in containers for the 90-mile trip south.

“Just the eggs. Not the adults — that’s how they’d escape, if something were to happen,” Akbari, a biologist and assistant professor at UC-San Diego, told Infectious Disease News.

Akbari’s lab contains 260 cages filled with 130 strains of genetically modified mosquitoes plus additional cages for more experiments. The lab is designed to keep mosquitoes inside. Four doors separate the insectary from the outside world. Even if a mosquito were to escape from its cage, an air blower triggered by the innermost door should keep it from getting out of the room. For good measure, there are mosquito traps positioned from the insectary to the hallway outside the main lab.

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From EurekAlert
February 15, 2018

The antioxidant drug ebselen can prevent sexual transmission of Zika virus from male to female mice, according to new research published in PLOS Pathogens by Yogy Simanjuntak and colleagues at Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. The results hint at a potential role for ebselen in preventing Zika spread among humans.

Zika virus usually causes mild symptoms in humans but has been linked with congenital microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. The virus jumps from person to person primarily via mosquitos carrying the disease, but recent research suggests that sexual transmission is also possible–most often from men to women.

In the absence of approved drugs or vaccines for Zika infection, researchers are exploring opportunities to prevent transmission. To gain new insights, Simanjuntak and colleagues investigated Zika infection and transmission from male to female mice.

The research team first examined the effects of Zika infection on mouse testicular tissue. They found that the virus damaged cells, impaired normal gene expression, damaged sperm, and infected sperm cells themselves. Notably, Zika caused signs of increased testicular inflammation and oxidative stress, a condition characterized by high levels of potentially damaging byproducts of normal cellular processes known as reactive oxygen species.

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From Time
February 14, 2018

In the summer of 2016, Jerome Goddard, a medical entomologist in Mississippi, received an email from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a desperate ask. The agency was conducting an “urgent” search for insect scientists around the U.S. who could take up to a six-month paid leave from work to help the CDC fight the Zika outbreak in the U.S., and possibly respond to areas with local transmission if needed.

“That’s how bad it is—they need to borrow someone,” says Goddard, an extension professor of medical entomology at Mississippi State University. “We can’t find people to investigate an outbreak.”

Medical entomology—the study of insects and arthropods that impact human health—has been a shrinking field for at least two decades, and the lack of bug scientists is now interfering with the nation’s ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks. The CDC, which has about 12,000 employees, only has 13 medical entomologists on staff.

The dwindling workforce has serious consequences for human health; diseases spread by insects are on the rise in the United States. Chikungunya, a new disease spread by mosquitoes, has emerged in the past five years, and since 1999, seven new tick-borne diseases have been discovered in the United States. Cases of Lyme disease have increased from a reported 17,209 in 2001 to 36,429 in 2016—a 111% rise. (The CDC estimates that the number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the U.S. is much more—around 300,000.)

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From Valley Central
February 13, 2018

The search for a vaccination against the Zika virus continues in the Rio Grande Valley.

Doctors at the research institute at Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance Health System continue to recruit for a clinical trial, which launched in October 2017. 

“The ultimate goal of this study is to provide a Zika vaccine that is easy to administer,” said Dr. Robert Noonan, lead investigator of the trial.

As of today, 20 out of the required 50 participants have enrolled. But, Noonan says they have only accepted about half of the people screened.

“In the Valley, there is a high incidence of diabetes,” Noonan said. “Diabetes is one of the diseases which will exclude you from being a participant in the trial.”

The recent flu outbreak could impact recruitment.

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From Healio
February 12, 2018

Researchers found genetic differences in twins discordant for congenital Zika syndrome that they said may increase susceptibility to complications of Zika virus infection during pregnancy.

Their study, recently published in Nature Communications, also shows that infants with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) have significantly higher rates of Zika virus (ZIKV) replication and reduced neural progenitor cell (NPC) growth compared with their twins not affected by CZS.

“Overall, our results indicate that CZS is not a stochastic event and depends on NPC intrinsic susceptibility, possibly related to oligogenic and/or epigenetic mechanisms,” Luiz Carlos Caires-Júnior, PhD, of the department of genetics and evolutionary biology at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, Biosciences Institute, University of São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues wrote.

According to the researchers, 6% to 12% of pregnant women infected with ZIKV will give birth to infants with CZS, which is characterized by microcephaly and other abnormalities such as visual defects, hearing impairment, skeletal deformities and epilepsy. CZS, they noted, impairs early brain development by affecting NPCs.

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From Palo Alto Online
February 12, 2018

Santa Clara County will begin its annual treatment Wednesday of the Palo Alto Baylands to prevent the spread of the winter salt marsh mosquito, which lays eggs in moist soil, like the kind found at the popular hiking and biking destination.

The Santa Clara County Vector Control District announced that the marshes will be treated with naturally occurring soil bacteria and “a mosquito-specific hormone” that is not harmful to the surrounding environment, wildlife or humans. The soil bacteria produces an insecticidal protein when consumed by the mosquito larvae, effectively killing them. The eggs can lay dormant for many years, even with repetitive flooding, according the district.

For some of the less accessible marsh areas, including the Palo Alto Flood Basin, a helicopter will be used to “cover large areas and minimize impact to the marsh habitat,” the district said. The helicopter crew may fly at low altitudes over the treatment area within the basin.

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From KRCR News
February 6, 2018

REDDING, Calif. — The Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control has noticed an increase in calls complaining about mosquitoes for 2018.

District Manager Peter Bonkrude said so far they’ve received around 20 calls, where normally it’s zero for the winter months.

Bonkrude added there is a winter species of mosquitoes out right now but during a typical wet year they don’t get complaints because people are not outside.

That changes during warm and dry evenings like the past week. While a nuisance, Bonkrude said Shasta County has less activity compared to other neighboring counties.

“The anopheles mosquito is typically associated with rice production. So counties that are doing rice production are typically dealing with that mosquito in a more heavy way. We still have anopheles mosquitoes just not in the numbers as they do to the south of us,” said Bonkrude.

The winter species of mosquitoes are not the kind that spread disease but Bonkrude suggested people still take precautions like wearing bug repellent when going outside around dusk or dawn.

He said if the warm and dry weather continues they may start to see the more dangerous species earlier this year. That could make West Nile season start sooner and last longer and allow for an increase number of cases in humans.

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From CBS Sacramento
February 6, 2018

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Warm weather in the Sacramento region has brought the mosquitoes out in force. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control says it’s getting more calls earlier this year.

Playtime at the park for many is being interrupted by the persistent pests.

“You can’t really see it, but I can feel it,” said one child playing at Regency Park in Natomas.

“Too much mosquito. It’s bad,” said another woman walking nearby.

“They’re hungry, and they’re biting,” explained Luz Maria Robles with the Sacramento–Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control.

“They think that it’s spring, so they’re coming out in higher numbers,” Robles continued.

Robles says her office is receiving more calls for service earlier this year.

They’re treating the surrounding rice farms, which is where this particular species of mosquito typically lives.

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From the Times-Herald News
February 6, 2018

The rain has stopped and the sun is out and that means the slightly warmer weather has pulled hibernating mosquitoes out from their slumber.

“This is a typical trend that we see every year in February when we get a few days of sunny and warm weather,” said Gary Goodman, manager of the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District. “These mosquitoes are ones that had been hibernating during the past few months.”

Not to worry, however, these mosquitoes aren’t the kind that are carrying the West Nile virus, according to Richard Snyder, Solano County Mosquito Abatement District manager.

“Yes, some are coming out now, but temperatures have to be a lot hotter for West Nile,” he said and added that the West Nile season is typically around May.

The mosquitoes out and about right now are more of a nuisance.

The Solano County Mosquito Abatement District is responsible for monitoring all of Solano County’s 904 square miles, which includes 21 different species of mosquitoes.

Tuesday, crews were in Vallejo trapping and spraying in the tidal marsh and Mare Island.

While the official start of spring is still more than a month away, the warming trend this week is causing more of mosquito larvae to mature into biting insects.

Even more mosquitoes are expected when pastures are irrigated.

Since there hasn’t been a lot of rain, there aren’t as many fresh water sources for mosquitoes to breed, however, Snyder said the rainy season isn’t over.

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From The Guardian
February 5, 2018

In her home in the hillside favela in Recife, Inabela Tavares straps a support vest around the waist of her daughter, Gaziella, to help her sit up. Splints on the two-year-old’s legs and plastic boots teach her to stand.

Gaziella has epilepsy, myopia and is visually impaired after her mother was infected by the Zika virus in 2015.

“I never thought about being a therapist, but I had to learn,” says Tavares, 33, who is married to Filipe, an auditor a year younger than her, and also has a 12-year-old son, Flavia. “I became empowered by knowledge.”

Tavares was six months pregnant and working in a phone store when her second child was diagnosed withmicrocephaly, a rare birth defect linked to the mosquito-borne virus, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

The virus affected thousands of Brazilian children – most of them in Brazil’s poor, dry north-east. By December, 3,037 “alterations in growth and development” possibly linked to the virus had been confirmed by the Brazilian government. Almost as many are still being investigated.

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From the Press-Enterprise
February 1, 2018

At least five people were stung by a swarm of bees in a Corona neighborhood Thursday afternoon, prompting police and fire officials to temporarily close access to the area for public safety.

The bee attack was reported about 3:20 p.m. near Heavenly Way and Taber Street.

Firefighters arrived within a couple of minutes and encountered the victims and others trying to get away from the agitated insects, which continued to sting the pedestrians while crews were trying to assist them, according to reports from the scene.

Police officers cordoned off the area to prevent anyone else from being exposed to the angry swarm.

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From Whittier Daily News
February 1, 2018

A deadly mosquito-borne virus that typically spreads in the summer and fall months lingered in Los Angeles County until Christmas last year, infecting more than 260 people and killing 27, health officials said this week.

It was the longest recorded season of West Nile virus activity, spanning about 30 weeks in 2017, with the last date of symptom onset occurring Dec. 24, according to Sharon Balter, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Acute Communicable Disease Control Program.

Previously, the longest West Nile season the county had experienced since the virus was first detected in 2003 lasted about 23 weeks, Balter said.

“The season has been getting longer and longer,” she said.

Why? Balter suspects several culprits, including unseasonably warm temperatures in November and December. Other factors could include the particular travel paths of birds and mosquitoes as well as increase in the number of older adults who are more at-risk of illness.

“The ecology of West Nile virus is incredibly complex,” Balter said, adding that human behavior could also be a factor. “One theory is that due to the heat waves later in the year, people were staying out later, staying out more and staying out after dark.”

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From Miami New Times
February 1, 2018

When Miami Beach residents found out the county was spraying a pesticide banned in the European Union to kill mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, they were furious. Dozens marched to city hall with signs reading, “What are you really killing?” and “Naled does more harm than good.” Some demonstrators wore gas masks.

Officials with the city, county, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all insisted the spraying was safe and in residents’ best interest, while some scientists claimed it was ineffective and potentially dangerous. The debate raged on for weeks.

Almost a year and a half removed from the fervor, the documentary Sprayed revisits the controversy to explore what happens when communities are blasted with pesticides.

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From The Inquirer
January 31, 2018

Zika may not be the only virus that can harm a fetus, a new study in mice suggests.

“We found that West Nile virus and Powassan viruses shared with Zika the ability to infect the placenta and cause fetal death,” said senior researcher Dr. Jonathan Miner, who’s with Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Both of those viruses are spread by the bites of insects and are in the same family of viruses as Zika, called flaviviruses.

So far, the researchers have only confirmed this in mice, although they have found these viruses have the ability to replicate in human placental tissue.

Does that mean pregnant women should be concerned every time they get a mosquito or tick bite?

Miner said this study definitely shouldn’t be the cause of “mass hysteria.” Research done in animals doesn’t always turn out the same when done in people.

“The work we do is basic science. We try to understand what may be possible. Our work is not done to make a claim about what is occurring in the human population,” he explained.

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From Reuters
January 29, 2018

(Reuters) – Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted ‘fast track’ status to its vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which erupted as a major public hazard in Brazil three years ago.

The drug, TAK-426, is currently being tested on 240 patients between the ages of 18 and 49 and is in early stages of development.

The virus might be responsible for an increase in birth defects in the United States and its territories, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report last week.

The Zika outbreak was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization in 2016 due to linkages found between the virus and severe birth defects.

The FDA’s ‘fast track’ designation aims to facilitate the development and expedite the review process for certain drugs and vaccines for serious conditions with unmet medical need.

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From U.S. News
January 29, 2018

From ChicoER
January 28, 2018

Oroville >> Changes have been set in motion for Butte County’s mosquito districts, but the changes are likely to happen slowly.

At its meeting in December, the Local Agency Formation Commission approved a municipal service review for the three districts that will ultimately see the Oroville Mosquito Abatement District absorbed into the Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control District.

The review also sees the larger district annexing about 15,000 acres of rice lands from the Durham Mosquito Control District, which the Durham district is unable to treat.

Butte County Mosquito and Vector Control District Manager Matt Ball said earlier this month he was currently working with LAFCO General Manager Steve Lucas to prepare the annexation from Durham, as he had no experience in such things.

“They don’t come up that often,” Ball said. “I’ve never done something like this.”

The Durham district is not opposing the annexation because it currently is not treating the area. Battling mosquitos in rice lands requires aircraft that Durham does not have. The larger district has several crop-duster-like planes.

The Durham district was also given some improvements to make in the year ahead and will stop fogging the north end of the Butte Creek Country Club, which is in the Butte district.

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From San Antonio Express-News
January 27, 2018

Birth defects strongly linked to Zika during pregnancy have increased in southern Texas and other parts of the United States where mosquitoes infected women in 2016, according to a new report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a 21 percent increase in abnormally small heads (microcephaly) and other neurological defects during the second half of 2016 in those areas where women contracted the virus — Texas’ Cameron County, South Florida and Puerto Rico.

“This report highlights the critical importance of documenting birth defects possibly related to Zika and our need to maintain vigilance,” Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the CDC, said in a statement. “Babies with Zika-related birth defects need all the help they can get.”

But CDC researchers said they do not know if the increase is due to the local spread of Zika or other factors because there isn’t laboratory evidence of infection in most mothers who delivered babies with defects associated with the virus — either because they were never tested, weren’t tested at the right time or weren’t exposed to the virus.

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From UC San Diego Health
January 25, 2018

In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus — and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses.

Writing in the current online issue of the journal Scientific Reports , researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil and elsewhere, say their findings support further investigation of using the repurposed drug as a potential treatment for Zika-infected adults, including pregnant women.

“There has been a lot of work done in the past year or so to address the Zika health threat. Much of it has focused on developing a vaccine, with promising early results,” said senior author Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program and a member of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

“But there is also a great need to develop clinical strategies to treat Zika-infected individuals, including pregnant women for whom prevention of infection is no longer an option. They represent the greatest health crisis because a Zika infection during the first trimester confers the greatest risk of congenital microcephaly.”

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From Smithsonian.com
January 25, 2018

Last summer, Dr. Kevin Olival joined a group of Indonesian hunters as they ventured deep into the mangrove forests of South Sulawesi island. The hunters were looking for roosting bats, mainly fruit bats and flying foxes—for them, a lucrative prize that can be shipped to villages in the north as part of the bushmeat trade. For Olival, the bats were a prize of a different sort.

Olival is a virus hunter. For more than 15 years, the ecologist and evolutionary biologist has scoured the globe for samples from animals that harbor some of the scariest undiscovered viruses as part of the global nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance. His goal: to find the next undiscovered virus in animals that harbors the ability to jump to humans and cause the next killer pandemic.

He and his team are in Indonesia for two weeks, swabbing feces, urine and saliva and taking blood samples from bats; freezing them in liquid nitrogen; and shipping them to an Indonesian laboratory for testing. EcoHealth Alliance is partnering with a larger collaboration known as USAID PREDICT, a $200 million global project aimed at detecting, preventing, and controlling infectious emerging diseases before they become full-blown pandemics.

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From Healio
January 25, 2018

Researchers identified three new mosquito carriers of Zika virus in Mexico and say all three are potential vectors of the disease.

Writing in Scientific Reports, the researchers reported isolating Zika virus from the salivary glands of wild-caught female Culex coronator, C.tarsalis and Aedes vexans mosquitoes, as well as other previously reported vectors, including A. aegypti, the primary driver of the recent Zika virus epidemic in the Americas. They also isolated Zika from different body parts of wild-caught female C. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes and whole males from the A.aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus species.

“Our findings strongly suggest that all the species reported herein are potential vectors for [Zika virus],” they wrote.

According to the report, past research has indicated that Zika arrived in Mexico from Brazil in the second half 2014 or early 2015. The mosquitoes that tested positive in the new study were collected in a neighborhood in Guadalajara, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

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From Reuters
January 23, 2018

TEPIC, Mexico (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Spraying thousands of chilled, sterile mosquitoes from specially adapted drones could prove a cost-effective way to slash numbers of the insects and curb the spread of Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases, say the backers of the technology.

WeRobotics, a non-profit trialing the method, plans to start mosquito-release tests shortly in Latin America.

It has recently piloted ways to transport medicines and medical samples in Peru’s Amazon region and the Dominican Republic using the unmanned aerial vehicles. But this time the cargo will be sensitive insects that must survive the process.

“It makes no sense to release mosquitoes that are 90 percent dead or damaged – we need to make sure the quality of the mosquito is very high so they can compete for females,” said drone maker Adam Klaptocz, co-founder of WeRobotics, which is based in Switzerland and the United States.

“The ultimate goal is to integrate drones into future vector control campaigns,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Mosquito-control programs using sterile insects often rely on trucks to disperse the bugs, or people releasing them from backpacks. Both of these are time-consuming methods unsuited to hard-to-reach places.

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From the Orlando Sentinel
January 18, 2018

An op-ed by Dr. Gary Brunette, Chief of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Travelers’ Health Branch

The New Year is often a time when we focus on our health. We make resolutions to increase our physical activity and watch what we eat. How about being more aware of travel-related illnesses like Zika and taking steps to prevent them? That should be on your list, too. Whether you just returned from celebrating Three Kings with family and friends in Latin America or the Caribbean, or are planning a trip for Spring Break, now is the time to prevent Zika.

This an especially important time of year to remind pregnant women to protect their health and not travel to areas with a risk of Zika. Becoming infected with Zika during pregnancy can cause microcephaly and other severe birth defects.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants you to know that Zika virus is still a major public health concern in many parts of the world. CDC recommends that U.S. travelers who are planning to visit Latin America or the Caribbean take action now to prevent contracting or spreading Zika, especially travelers who are planning to start a family in the near future. And those who recently returned from the region, if you are not feeling well, you should see a doctor and mention that you have recently traveled.

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From Westside Connect
January 18, 2018

Emerging trends in the ongoing campaign against mosquitoes and the viruses they transmit have area abatement experts gearing up for new challenges.

In the dead of winter – months ahead of peak mosquito season – officials with the Turlock and Merced County mosquito abatement districts are laying out their strategies for 2018.

The West Side saw substantial virus activity in 2017, according to David Heft, general manager of the Turlock district, and Rhiannon Jones, his counterpart with the Merced County district.

In addition to West Nile Virus activity, they told Mattos Newspapers, Saint Louis Encephalitis Virus (WELV) was detected in the Newman-Gustine area for the first time in several years.

That is not the only concern facing the mosquito-fighters.

Last summer, the Merced County Mosquito Abatement discovered the presence of the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito – which can transmit Zike, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses – in the city of Merced.

Those developments leave the abatement agencies facing a dual challenge as they prepare for 2018 – particularly since the Aedes aegypti mosquito requires a far different eradication approach than that applied in the war against those which carry West Nile and SLEV.

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From the Mercury News
January 18, 2018

DEAR JOAN: I have ants in my bathroom. My husband says they are looking for water, and I agree with him, however, when I find them, they aren’t there after I’ve showered.

I first noticed them in my bathroom about two months ago. I sprayed and didn’t see them for weeks and then I noticed about a dozen dead ants in one corner of my shower. I hadn’t sprayed in weeks.

Now, every three or four days, there is about a dozen dead ants. The other night I lifted the bath mat that is in front of the shower and found a small cluster of dead ants there, as well as the dozen or so in the corner of my shower.

I’m not a big fan of ants, but I’m starting to feel kind of bad for them. Any idea what could be causing this?

Pauline O’Connell, Bay Area

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From EurekAlert!
January 11, 2018

(Boston) — Karen Cheng, a third-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), has received a $3,500 award from the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference (CGIU) Innovation Fund for her work on creating effective methods to battle viruses such as Zika.

Rooftop water tanks are the prevailing source of potable water in developing nations. However, the stagnant water in these devices becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread a variety of viruses such as Zika. Cheng developed an affordable automated device that safely delivers larvicide and insecticide that kills the larvae of mosquitoes in these tanks.

Cheng also was recognized for her work developing new solutions to address the spread of Zika and related outbreaks at the Zika Medical Innovations Hackathon hosted by Massachusetts General Hospital/CamTech in 2016.

She is the community outreach chair for the BUSM Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association, which educates and translates for Mandarin speakers in outreach events that promote healthy lifestyles. She also is a part of the BUSM Student Oncology Society and serves as a student leader.

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From Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
January 11, 2018

More than 10,000 people in the United States are living with memory loss and other persistent neurological problems that occur after West Nile virus infects the brain.

Now, a new study in mice suggests that such ongoing neurological deficits may be due to unresolved inflammation that hinders the brain’s ability to repair damaged neurons and grow new ones. When the inflammation was reduced by treatment with an arthritis drug, the animals’ ability to learn and remember remained sharp after West Nile disease.

“These memory disturbances make it hard for people to hold down a job, to drive, to take care of all the duties of everyday life,” said senior author Robyn Klein, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “We found that targeting the inflammation with the arthritis drug could prevent some of these problems with memory.”

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From Science News
January 9, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA—After the West Nile virus appeared on the U.S. East Coast in 1999, it spread across the entire country in just a few years, sickening thousands of people and striking down whole flocks of robins, crows, and other birds. Now, a new study suggests the mosquito-borne virus may have had an unexpected helper: light pollution. Birds infected with West Nile can spread the virus twice as long when they are exposed to night light, according to a study presented here over the weekend at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

The work “shows that light pollution is not only bad for our [daily rhythms], but also can affect disease prevalence and transmission,” says Jenny Ouyang, an integrative physiologist at the University of Nevada in Reno. “Perhaps infection in humans and other animals is also affected by light,” adds Yale University epidemiologist Durland Fish. (Neither Ouyang nor Fish were involved in the study.)

West Nile is primarily a bird virus, but people occasionally get infected because some bird-biting mosquitoes dine on human blood as well. Human infections can cause fevers, body aches, rashes, diarrhea, long-term fatigue, and, in some cases, inflammation of the brain and its membranes. In the United States, almost 2000 people have died from West Nile since its arrival.

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From Sierra Magazine
January 9, 2018

Since West Nile virus made its debut in New York City over a decade ago, outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases, especially West Nile virus, have become increasingly commonplace. As temperatures reach new highs as a result of global climate change, mosquitoes that once called the tropics home find the United States just as habitable. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Aedes aegypti—which is capable of transmitting the Zika, dengue, and chikungunya viruses—could find suitable breeding habitats in 75 percent of the contiguous United States. 

Efforts to deal with the unwelcome vectors, however, are already running into trouble. In a poorly executed plan to suppress mosquitoes in South Carolina last year, officials in Dorchester County misted an insecticide called Naled—deadly to both honeybees and mosquitoes—through the air over Summerville without warning local beekeepers. The subsequent deaths of millions of bees served as a wake-up call that weapons beyond pesticides are needed to fight the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

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From Pasadena Now
January 8, 2018

[Updated]  Nearly eight months after the City Council approved an application for Pasadena to join the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District Board, and just days after the first sexually transmitted case of Zika was reported in Los Angeles County, Pasadena Public Health Dept. Environmental Health Services Division Manager Rachel Janbek will likely be confirmed Monday as the City of Pasadena’s official representative to the District.

For Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek, the appointment could not come at a more important time. Historically, the local vector control district was mostly concerned with locating and eliminating standing water or abandoned pools, he said, a manageable task.

“But now,” Tornek said Friday, “with the advent of West Nile and Zika, and these are scary things, it’s become a much more serious enterprise. This is no longer in the classification of a nuisance. This is now in the classification of a potential public health emergency.”

Pasadena Public Health Director Michael Johnson had campaigned for the City to join the District last spring after determining that his department could not provide the proper training, equipment or supplies to monitor and combat adult mosquitoes that could potentially carry the West Nile and Zika viruses.

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From The Washington Post
January 7, 2018

Ever ask yourself what’s the latest on viruses?

Don’t blame yourself if you haven’t. It’s easy to forget that the tiny particles, which hijack host organisms and use them to replicate, even exist. If you are sick, you are more likely to pay attention: Viruses are responsible for infections including the common cold, pneumonia and hepatitis.

Enter This Week in Virology, a podcast that makes it worth considering viruses more often. It’s hosted by Vincent Racaniello, a Columbia University professor, along with other virology experts.

Together, the team picks apart the latest news in virology and discusses big-name viruses, such as Zika, HIV and influenza. The show sheds light on a field that’s expanding all the time and that presents difficult questions to scientists.

One recent episode, “Call me fish meal,” tackles Bodo saltans. This giant virus — the largest ever seen — was first found in a freshwater pond in British Columbia. It infects a flagellated eukaryote, a hairy-looking microorganism that is common in water. One of just a handful of known giant viruses, Bodo saltans is challenging what scientists think they know about the infectious agents. The podcast gets into why, offering a fascinating look into the leviathan and the outsize mysteries it presents.

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From Science Daily
January 5, 2018

When exposed to Zika virus before birth, mouse fetuses with the protein commit cell suicide, while fetuses without it continued to develop. The result, published January 5 in Science Immunology, suggests that the protein, a receptor involved in immune cell signaling, plays a role in spontaneous abortions and other human pregnancy complications.

The work could have implications for pregnant women infected with Zika or women with autoimmune disorders who are trying to have a baby, says study author Akiko Iwasaki, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator and immunologist at Yale University.

“Pregnancy is a huge investment for a mother,” she says. “Our work shows how this signaling pathway works to terminate pregnancies that are not going to be viable early on.”

Zika virus is carried and transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and can also be spread during sex. Scientists have linked infections during pregnancy to stillbirths and birth defects such as microcephaly, where a baby’s head is abnormally small. Iwasaki and other researchers have been studying how signaling proteins called interferons defend the body against the virus.

“Interferons are one of the most potent antiviral factors the body generates,” Iwasaki says. When the body detects a virus, cells release interferons, which mount a rapid immune defense. Past studies have shown that adult mice lacking the receptor that binds two types of interferons, interferon-α and interferon-β, are highly susceptible to Zika. But the receptor’s effect on infected fetuses was unknown.

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From The Los Angeles Times
January 4, 2018

L.A. County officials said Thursday that a woman had been infected with the Zika virus by her partner in the first case of sexually transmitted Zika virus in the county.

A man who lives in L.A. County traveled to Mexico and became infected with the Zika virus in early November, and shortly afterward his female partner, who didn’t travel to Mexico, also developed the infection, officials said.

“This case is a reminder to take precautions during sex or avoid sex if you or your partner have traveled to an area with risk of Zika,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, L.A. County’s interim health officer.

Zika virus, which has caused hundreds of babies to be born with birth defects in Brazil, is most commonly transmitted by mosquitoes. The virus can also be transmitted through sex, though that’s much rarer.

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From ABC 10
January 3, 2018

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A Carmel Mountain Ranch family is grateful for the gift of mobility after generous donations from the community.

10News shared the Keller’s story back in August when they were in need of modifying their van to make it wheelchair accessible, a $28,000 investment. 

When she was 4-years-old, Jordan Keller was diagnosed with cancer. As she was finishing her fight she was bitten by a mosquito carrying West Nile. The virus hit her immunocompromised body extremely hard, leaving her unable to walk or talk.

As she grew older, traveling became difficult for the family. Jordan’s parents, Jen and Steve, had to lift both Jordan and the 75-pound wheelchair into their van.

Now, they don’t have to.

“To get that phone call to say you don’t have to worry anymore, it’s all going to be taken care of, I mean that was a huge relief,” said Jen.

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From WTOP
January 2, 2018

WASHINGTON — Some people bundle up to walk the dog or go for a run in freezing weather.

But across the D.C. region, thousands brave frigid temperatures for a chance to tally all the birds they can find during a 24-hour period. The practice is part of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, a tradition that stretches back to 1901.

Janet Millenson of Potomac, tallied the data taken by the Sugarloaf Mountain count. Her team was out on Sunday, the coldest December day since 1989.

In a feat of understatement, Millenson said the day was “unpleasantly cold” and joked that teams of birdwatchers who spread out over a 15-mile diameter route were still thawing out.

“I actually feel guilty; I feel as the compiler of the data I ought to arrange nice weather,” she said.

The types of birds spotted can indicate what’s going on in the environment due to habitat loss, climate change or even outbreaks of things such as West Nile virus, according to Millenson.

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From UCR Today
January 2, 2018

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — For decades, chemical pesticides have been the most important way of controlling insects like the Anopheles mosquito species that spreads malaria to humans. Unfortunately, the bugs have fought back, evolving genetic shields to protect themselves and their offspring from future attacks.

The fascinating array of genetic changes that confer pesticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes is reviewed in an article published today in Trends in Parasitology. The paper is written by Colince Kamdem, a postdoctoral scholar, and two colleagues from the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside. The findings highlight the interplay between human interventions from pest control companies like pest control san diego, mosquito evolution, and disease outcomes, and will help scientists develop new strategies to overcome pesticide resistance. The pest control puyallup can help with getting rid of pest menace.

In 2015, there were roughly 212 million malaria cases and an estimated 429,000 deaths due to malaria, according to the World Health Organization. While increased prevention and control measures have led to a 29 percent reduction in malaria mortality rates globally since 2010, the increase in pesticide resistant insects underscores the need for new strategies.

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From FOX 15
December 28, 2017

ABILENE, TX – West Texas is being hit by a cold front, bringing unfriendly temperatures for mosquitos. But Texas health officials are still concerned with the zika virus.

“Most cases of zika that have been reported in 2017 in Texas have been travel related,” says Dr. Jennifer Shuford, Infectious Disease Medical Officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Dr. Shuford says 47 cases of zika were reported in Texas this year. But in 45 cases, the carriers had one thing in common.

“Then they are diagnosed once they’re back in Texas. But they actually didn’t get the infection here. They got it while they were traveling,” says Dr. Shuford.
           
Although most of the cases are due to mosquito transmission. There are other ways to contract the virus.

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From the Turlock Journal
December 26, 2017

Even though the weather has turned colder and there are fewer mosquitos flying around, the Zika virus remains a serious public health concern in California.

As of Dec. 1, there have been 619 cases in California, with 10 just this month, according to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency. So far in California, Zika virus infections have been documented only in people who were infected while traveling to areas with ongoing Zika transmission, through sexual contact with an infected traveler, or through maternal-fetal transmission during pregnancy. 

While the species of mosquito that carries the Zika virus, is not native to California, it has been detected in an increasing number of counties throughout the state.

Zika is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is known to be in the San Joaquin Valley. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this type of mosquito is an aggressive day biter, but also known to bite at night. An Aedes mosquito can only transmit Zika virus after it bites a person who has this virus in their blood. 
Most people testing positive for Zika will have mild to no symptoms. The most common symptoms include fever, rash, conjunctivitis (red eyes), and joint pain and begin three to seven days after being bitten.
Severe illness requires supportive care at a hospital. There is no vaccine or cure for Zika.
The virus is of most concern to pregnant women or women considering getting pregnant in the near future. Zika virus during pregnancy can cause microcephaly and other severe brain defects in infants.  Additionally, there is an association between Zika and Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a disease affecting the nervous system.  

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