Author: Timothy McDermott

East Asian Tick Discovered in New Jersey

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(TRENTON) – New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher today announced the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa has confirmed the finding of an exotic East Asian tick, also known as the longhorned tick or bush tick, on a farm in Hunterdon County on November 9. Initial identification was made by the Monmouth County Tick-borne Diseases Lab, located at Rutgers University and the Hunterdon County Division of Health. This tick is not known to be present in the U.S., although there are records of at least a dozen previous collections of this species in the country on animals and materials presented for entry at U.S. ports.

Click to read full article at NJ.Gov

Photo Credit: NJ.Gov

Update on Lyme Disease Surveillance 2008-2015

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Courtesy of the CDC  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Nov 10th, 2017

Amy M. Schwartz, MPH1; Alison F. Hinckley, PhD1; Paul S. Mead, MD1; Sarah A. Hook, MA1; Kiersten J. Kugeler, PhD1 (View author affiliations)

Abstract

Problem/Condition: Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vectorborne disease in the United States but is geographically focal. The majority of Lyme disease cases occur in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest regions. Lyme disease can cause varied clinical manifestations, including erythema migrans, arthritis, facial palsy, and carditis. Lyme disease occurs most commonly among children and older adults, with a slight predominance among males.

Reporting Period: 2008–2015.

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West Nile Update 10/3/17

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West Nile virus and other domestic arboviral activity — United States, 2017
Provisional data reported to ArboNET
Tuesday, October 3, 2017

 

West Nile virus (WNV) activity in 2017
As of October 3rd, 1,015 counties from 47 states and the District of Columbia have reported
WNV activity to ArboNET for 2017, including 45 states and the District of Columbia with
reported WNV human infections (i.e., disease cases or viremic blood donors) and two additional
states with reported WNV activity in non-human species only (i.e., veterinary cases, mosquito
pools, dead birds, or sentinel animals)

Click to read full article –> 2017-10-03 Arboviral activity update-1nll3ev

Courtesy of Arbonet

Ohio Arbovirus Report for September 1st 2017

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Click for printable PDF of report –>  Summary table – 9 1 17-pc8ucs

 

West Nile virus and other domestic arboviral activity — United States, 2017
Provisional data reported to ArboNET
Tuesday, August 29, 2017

This update from the CDC Arboviral Disease Branch includes provisional data reported to ArboNET for January 1 – August 29, 2017 for West Nile virus and selected other nationally notifiable domestic arboviruses. Additional resources for ArboNET and arboviral diseases are provided on page 9.
West Nile virus (WNV) activity in 2017
As of August 29th, 740 counties from 45 states and the District of Columbia have reported WNV activity to ArboNET for 2017, including 35 states with reported WNV human infections (i.e., disease cases or viremic blood donors) and 10 additional states and the District of Columbia with reported WNV activity in non-human species only (i.e., veterinary cases, mosquito pools, dead birds, or sentinel animals)

Click HERE for full West Nile Virus Report –> 2017-08-29 Arboviral activity update-xa8qnu

 

All reports courtesy of the Ohio Department of Health

Zika Virus May be Useful in Treating Brain Tumors

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Source: US National Library of Medicine 9/7/2017

 

Thu, 07 Sep 2017 05:33:00 EST

 

“Zika virus used to treat aggressive brain cancer,” BBC News reports. Animal and laboratory research suggests a modified version of the virus could possibly be used to target and destroy cancerous cells.

The Zika virus was first discovered in 1947. It hit the headlines in 2016 when an epidemic of the virus began quickly spreading through parts of South and Central America.

The virus, spread by mosquitoes, rarely causes serious problems in adults. But it can lead to birth defects, specifically microcephaly (a small, not fully developed head), if a woman contracts the virus when pregnant.

The virus has the ability to cross from the blood into the brain, so researchers wanted to see if it could be used to treat a very aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma.

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Herd Immunity Slowing Zika Spread Outside US?

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From AP/US News and World Report August 12th 2017

MIAMI (AP) — The waning of Zika outbreaks in the Caribbean and South America has helped slow the spread of the mosquito-borne virus in Florida this year, according to health officials.

Herd immunity, when enough people in an area are infected with a virus and develop resistance to it, likely has contributed to Zika’s decline outside the continental United States, Dr. Henry Walke, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s incident manager for Zika response, said in a Miami Herald report .

“People that were infected before can’t be infected again. That’s our understanding,” Walke said. “So you don’t have as much of the virus circulating. That’s true not only in Puerto Rico but throughout the Caribbean and throughout South America.”

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New Mosquito Attractant/Pesticide combination in testing

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Excerpted from American Chemical Society newsletter August 23rd, 2017

“Conventional chemical insecticides used to control mosquitoes are used as cover sprays, frequently dispersed over wide areas. But this blanket spray approach exposes people and animals to potentially harmful compounds and can kill bees and other beneficial insects. In addition, residues of these sprays can contaminate soils and streams, as well as promote increased pesticide resistance. To overcome these issues, Mafra-Neto of ISCA Technologies and colleagues at several universities sought to create a more targeted approach using an insecticide potion spiked with a blend of semiochemicals, or chemical signals, that mosquitoes can’t resist.”

 

“The blend of chemicals that we use to attract mosquitoes is so powerful that they will ignore natural plant odors and attractants in order to get to our formulation,” says Agenor Mafra-Neto, Ph.D. “From a mosquito’s point of view, it’s like having an irresistible chocolate shop on every corner. The product is so seductive that they will feed on it almost exclusively, even when it contains lethal doses of insecticide.”

 

The resulting product, which is called Vectrax®, is a slow-release formula for use indoors or outdoors. It can be applied as a spray, which produces 1- to 5-millimeter dollops on vegetation or building eaves, or as a semi-solid, caulk-like gel on cracks or holes in outdoor structures. Because the mosquitoes visit and manipulate the dollops, they receive precise doses of the insecticide, and thus are more effectively controlled. Unlike with traditional blanket sprays, nearby surfaces can remain insecticide free.

The researchers are conducting field tests in Tanzania, an African nation where 93 percent of the population is at risk for malaria. In preliminary results, they found that mosquito populations plunged by two-thirds in just two weeks in Vetrax-treated communities compared to untreated ones.

 

CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE ON ACS