Can anything be done to maintain the effectiveness of pyrethroid-impregnated bednets against malaria vectors?
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Pyrethroid-treated bednets are the most promising available method of controlling malaria in the tropical world. Every effort should be made to find methods of responding to, or preventing, the emergence of pyrethroid resistance in the Anopheles vectors. Some cases of such resistance are known, notably in An. gambiae in West Africa where the kdr type of resistance has been selected, probably because of the use of pyrethroids on cotton. Because pyrethroids are irritant to mosquitoes, laboratory studies on the impact of, and selection for, resistance need to be conducted with free-flying mosquitoes in conditions that are as realistic as possible. Such studies are beginning to suggest that, although there is cross-resistance to all pyrethroids, some treatments are less likely to select for resistance than others are. Organophosphate, carbamate and phenyl pyrazole insecticides have been tested as alternative treatments for nets or curtains. Attempts have been made to mix an insect growth regulator and a pyrethroid on netting to sterilize pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes that are not killed after contact with the netting. There seems to be no easy solution to the problem of pyrethroid resistance management, but further research is urgently needed. (+info)
Mayaro virus disease: an emerging mosquito-borne zoonosis in tropical South America.
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This report describes the clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological findings on 27 cases of Mayaro virus (MV) disease, an emerging mosquito-borne viral illness that is endemic in rural areas of tropical South America. MV disease is a nonfatal, dengue-like illness characterized by fever, chills, headache, eye pain, generalized myalgia, arthralgia, diarrhea, vomiting, and rash of 3-5 days' duration. Severe joint pain is a prominent feature of this illness; the arthralgia sometimes persists for months and can be quite incapacitating. Cases of two visitors from the United States, who developed MV disease during visits to eastern Peru, are reported. MV disease and dengue are difficult to differentiate clinically. (+info)
Vectors of Chikungunya virus in Senegal: current data and transmission cycles.
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Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to human beings by Aedes genus mosquitoes. From 1972 to 1986 in Kedougou, Senegal, 178 Chikungunya virus strains were isolated from gallery forest mosquitoes, with most of them isolated from Ae. furcifer-taylori (129 strains), Ae. luteocephalus (27 strains), and Ae. dalzieli (12 strains). The characteristics of the sylvatic transmission cycle are a circulation periodicity with silent intervals that last approximately three years. Few epidemics of this disease have been reported in Senegal. The most recent one occurred in 1996 in Kaffrine where two Chikungunya virus strains were isolated from Ae. aegypti. The retrospective analysis of viral isolates from mosquitoes, wild vertebrates, and humans allowed to us to characterize Chikungunya virus transmission cycles in Senegal and to compare them with those of yellow fever virus. (+info)
Isolation of tick-borne encephalitis virus from wild rodents and a seroepizootiologic survey in Hokkaido, Japan.
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To determine the vertebrate host of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus in the southern part of Hokkaido, Japan, virus isolation was performed using spleens from small mammals captured in the area. Two virus strains were isolated, one strain from Apodemus speciosus and another from Clethrionomys rufocanus. Virus isolates were inoculated onto baby hamster kidney cell monolayers and antigen slides were prepared for an indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay. Two isolates were identified as TBE viruses by monoclonal antibody reactions. To specify the TBE-endemic area in Hokkaido, rodent, horse, and dog sera collected from 1992 to 1997 were tested for neutralization antibody against TBE virus previously isolated from a dog. The positive cases were distributed in four districts in the southern part of Hokkaido. (+info)
Variation in oral susceptibility to dengue type 2 virus of populations of Aedes aegypti from the islands of Tahiti and Moorea, French Polynesia.
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Twenty three samples of Aedes aegypti populations from the islands of Tahiti and Moorea (French Polynesia) were tested for their oral susceptibility to dengue type 2 virus. The high infection rates obtained suggest that the artificial feeding protocol used was more efficient than those previously described. Statistical analysis of the results allowed us to define two distinct geographic areas on Tahiti with respect to the susceptibility of Ae. aegypti: the east coast, with homogeneous infection rates, and the west coast, with heterogeneous infection rates. No geographic differences could be demonstrated on Moorea. The possible mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed in connection with recent findings on the variability of susceptibility of Ae. aegypti to insecticides. (+info)
Replication of dengue type 2 virus in Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae).
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We were able to infect Culex quinquefasciatus by the parenteral route with dengue virus type 2. The percentage of mosquitoes infected was dose dependent and we obtained a rate of 45.6% infected Cx. quinquefasciatus when a 10(5.9) MID50 (mosquito infectious dose for 50% of the individuals as measured in Aedes aegypti) of dengue virus type 2 per mosquito was used. Infection was detected by an immunofluorescent assay performed on mosquito head squashes 14 days after infection. The replication of dengue virus in Cx. quinquefasciatus was either at a very low level of magnitude or generated a large number of noninfectious particles since the triturated bodies of infected Cx. quinquefasciatus did not infect Ae. aegypti mosquitoes when inoculated parenterally. We were unable to infect Cx. quinquefasciatus females orally with an artificial meal that infected 100% of Ae. aegypti females. These findings lead us to agree with the consensus that Cx. quinquefasciatus should not be considered a biological vector of dengue viruses. (+info)
Tissue tropism related to vector competence of Frankliniella occidentalis for tomato spotted wilt tospovirus.
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The development of tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) infection in the midgut and salivary glands of transmitting and non-transmitting thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, was studied to elucidate tissue tropism and the virus pathway within the body of this vector. Immunohistological techniques used in this study showed that the midgut, foregut and salivary glands were the only organs in which virus accumulated. The first signals of infection, observed as randomly distributed fluorescent granular spots, were found in the epithelial cells of the midgut, mainly restricted to the anterior region. The virus subsequently spread to the circular and longitudinal midgut muscle tissues, a process which occurred late in the larval stage. In the adult stage, the infection occurred in the visceral muscle tissues, covering the whole midgut and foregut, and was abolished in the midgut epithelium. The infection of the salivary glands was first observed 72 h post-acquisition, and simultaneously in the ligaments connecting the midgut with these glands. The salivary glands of transmitting individuals appeared heavily or completely infected, while no or only a low level of infection was found in the glands of non-transmitting individuals. Moreover, the development of an age-dependent midgut barrier against virus infection was observed in second instar larvae and adults. The results show that the establishment of TSWV infection in the various tissues and the potential of transmission seems to be regulated by different barriers and processes related to the metamorphosis of thrips. (+info)
A GroEL homologue from endosymbiotic bacteria of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci is implicated in the circulative transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl virus.
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Evidence for the involvement of a Bemisia tabaci GroEL homologue in the transmission of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV) is presented. A approximately 63-kDa protein was identified in B. tabaci whole-body extracts using an antiserum raised against aphid Buchnera GroEL. The GroEL homologue was immunolocalized to a coccoid-shaped whitefly endosymbiont. The 30 N-terminal amino acids of the whitefly GroEL homologue showed 80% homology with that from different aphid species and GroEL from Escherichia coli. Purified GroEL from B. tabaci exhibited ultrastructural similarities to that of the endosymbiont from aphids and E. coli. In vitro ligand assays showed that tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) particles displayed a specific affinity for the B. tabaci 63-kDa GroEL homologue. Feeding whiteflies anti-Buchnera GroEL antiserum before the acquisition of virions reduced TYLCV transmission to tomato test plants by >80%. In the haemolymph of these whiteflies, TYLCV DNA was reduced to amounts below the threshold of detection by Southern blot hybridization. Active antibodies were recovered from the insect haemolymph suggesting that by complexing the GoEL homologue, the antibody disturbed interaction with TYLCV, leading to degradation of the virus. We propose that GroEL of B. tabaci protects the virus from destruction during its passage through the haemolymph. (+info)