West Nile Virus in the USA: Risks, Tactics and Research - http://clapway.com/2015/07/26/west-nile-virus-in-the-usa-risks-tactics-and-research347/

Six additional mosquitoes testing positive for the West Nile Virus infection in Suffolk County. Their Health Services Commissioner Dr. James L. Tomarken announced this unnerving development on July 24th. That means the 2015 total for the country up to 13 positive samples. The mosquito samples are regularly gathered from well known mosquito breeding sites.

WEST NILE VIRUS IN NEW YORK

Alarmingly, the west nile virus has already been detected in several areas of New York. Seven state counties and three boroughs in New York City reported the presence of the west nile virus. Fortunately, as of July 23rd, no human infections with the virus have been reported yet the state of New York.

WEST NILE VIRUS IN THE SOUTH

However, Texas already announced that as of July 18th, 221 mosquito pools have tested positive for the west nile virus, including two birds and one horse. and one human incident of west nile fever and two more of west nile neurologic illness.

As of July 18th in Florida seven counties were found to house sentinel chickens carrying west nile. In all, 19 chickens tested positive, but horses and humans have so far been spared.

Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was made aware of 23 patients with illnesses related to the west nile virus. The most vicious form of the west nile virus, known as neuroinvasive disease, has been found in nine patients. Formerly, the CDS thought between 150 and 250 patients have either a clinical west nile virus illness or west nile fever for each case of neuroinvasive disease. If correct, this would put the total number of west nile virus cases in 2015 alone somewhere between 1,350 and 2,250.

DIFFERENT SPECIES, DIFFERENT ILLNESSES

Culex pipiens and a closely related Culex species are known to carry the west nile virus. By hard work, scientists are becoming better at predicting which specific conditions are most responsible for increases in the mosquito population and the increase in carried illnesses among such populations. A paper published in 2013 called “Predicting Culex pipens/restuans population dynamics by interval lagged weather data” explained some of the key factors: Culex pipiens carries “West Nile fever, St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephallitis, Western equine encephalitis, and Rift Valley fever.” It seems the length of day has a great effect on the mosquito concentration. The maximum population occurs roughly four weeks after the year’s longest day.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON MOSQUITOES

Female mosquitoes’ (the only kind that bite) activity is greatly effected by air temperature. It seems like quicker increases in temperature cause them to hasten their search for hosts to suck.

Rain affects mosquito activity in diverse ways, but is basically determined by the frequency and quantity of rain. If it’s too heavy, the baby mosquitoes are washed away from their breeding pools, which can cause activity to decrease momentarily. Light rain, which merely refreshes any standing water (e.g. sewer catch basins), or that fills a volume of stagnant water that will last for weeks, greatly increases the mosquito population.

NEW MOSQUITO ACTIVITY MODEL

By combining this data with data from other, less recent studies, we can begin to model the mosquito population using variables set to predict ahead of their own lag time, so that we can have a real time estimation of what’s going on with the mosquito population, and what is yet to come. This will help mosquito control tactics like fogging and larvacide become more effective and precise.

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West Nile Virus in the USA: Risks, Tactics and Research

Mosquitoes Track You With 3 Senses, Bite Without Guilt - http://clapway.com/2015/07/17/mosquitoes-track-you-with-3-senses-bite-without-guilt784/

We all work (or have worked) hard to afford a nice day on the beach, at the park, or just a day of ambiguous leisure. We sometimes work even harder to protect ourselves from the malheurs of pests, namely the winged sort we’ve named mosquitoes. But resistance may be futile, for a mosquito can sense heat, can smell humans, and can see you, too. That’s three senses working against you. No wonder they’re so persistent.

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE a MOSQUITOES’ MOTHERS’ SCORN

The most ravenous mosquito is the new mother, who seeks a blood meal to feed her younglings. Her favorite host is human. A wide variety of insects including mosquitoes can detect and are attracted to the smell of carbon dioxide (CO2) that we exhale. And that’s not all; mosquitoes can also use thermal sensory data to detect a suitable host of blood, and when all else fails, there’s always old-fashioned sight. But who would imagine themselves using each one of their senses in a sequence, especially when one’s own survival depends on putting them to work together?

DO PESTS INTEGRATE SENSES?

In order to discover precisely how mosquitoes balance such a barrage of senses, a recent study was performed. In the study, researchers set hungry, mated female mosquitoes free into a wind tunnel. This wind tunnel was jerry-rigged for scientists to control which sensory cues occurred.

Each experiment featured 20 mosquitoes, who were all inserted into the tunnel and filmed with 3D tracking software. When a plume of air heavy in CO2 concentration was released, the mosquitos followed it, just as the scientists predicted. A plume with normal background air did not seem to pique the mosquitoes’ interest.

TRANSPOSING HYPOTHESES FROM OTHER FINDINGS

Floris van Breugel, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Michael Dickinson, professor of bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology, found that animals (specifically, fruit flies), are more attracted to visual features, even when exposed to an attractive odor.

“This was a new finding for flies, and we suspected that mosquitoes would exhibit a similar behavior. That is, we predicted that when the mosquitoes were exposed to CO2, which is an indicator of a nearby host, they would also spend a lot of time hovering near high-contrast objects, such as a black object on a neutral background.”

ARE MOSQUITOES’ SENSES BIASED?

To test Dickinson’s idea, the scientists repeated the CO2 plume experiment, with a slight change in environment: they placed a dark object on the floor of the wind tunnel. The scientists discovered that even with heavy CO2 plumes, the pests were more attracted to the dark, high-contrast set piece. But, when there was no CO2, the same insects showed no interest in the darkness.

What this means is that the effect of mosquitoes’ olfactory systems is not dissimilar to our suffering. The mosquitoes smell CO2, begin their flight, and continue on well beyond the CO2 towards visual stimulation, which is more temporary, because they carry on the memory of CO2 with them. Mayhaps we should take a matador instead of bug spray for our next camping trip.

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Mosquitoes Track You With 3 Senses, Bite Without Guilt

West Nile Mosquitoes Found in New York and Texas - http://clapway.com/2015/07/01/west-nile-mosquitoes-found-in-new-york-and-texas875/

It’s Back

West Nile mosquitoes being found carrying diseases in nearby areas has almost become a tradition at this point. And like clockwork, we’ve found our first cases of the year. According to the Department of Health, the first mosquitoes found to be carrying the West Nile virus were spotted in New York, more specifically Staten Island and Queens. And of course, because where there’s smoke there’s fire, very quickly other areas came to realize they were dealing with the same problem. Parts of Texas have also announced that they are dealing with a similar case. Since it’s likely that more mosquitoes are on their way to different areas with the same virus, caution is encouraged.

Upper West Nile

Staten Island and Queens have seen West Nile mosquitoes of late, but thankfully there has yet to be a human case of West Nile. So far, the consensus seems to be that they are localized to two sites. One batch of infected mosquitoes was found in Glen Oaks, Queens while the other was found in New Dorp Beach, Staten Island. The Health Department intends to set up more traps and catch basins in the aforementioned infected areas. In the hopes of cutting off the West Nile mosquitoes issue at its source, they are also going to apply larvacide to catch basins, marshlands, and other areas that have standing water. In this way, the mosquito larvae will be killed before they can mature and run the risk of infecting others. Officials are giving their standard recommendations for West Nile mosquitoes: wear insect repellent, cover up, and do what you can to get rid of any standing water that mosquitoes could find.

Infecting The Woodlands

Not to be outdone, the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed that mosquitoes tested in The Woodlands Township in Montgomery County have also tested positive. These new pests to the area are being blamed on a recent torrent of heavy rains. To do away with the West Nile mosquitoes, the TDSHS will be spraying larvacide on storm drains and streets. In a climate like that of Texas, it’s imperative to get rid of West Nile mosquitoes before they spread even more and do damage; Montgomery County had 32 human cases of West Nile last year. Texas is giving similar warning as New York regarding how to deal with these pests, urging people to do as much as they can to rid their areas of pools of water.

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West Nile Mosquitoes Found in New York and Texas