Trends of Enterovirus D68 Concentrations in Wastewater, California, USA, February 2021-April 2023.

In this retrospective study, we measured enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) genomic RNA in wastewater solids longitudinally at 2 California, USA, wastewater treatment plants twice per week for 26 months. EV-D68 RNA was undetectable except when concentrations increased from mid-July to mid-December 2022, which coincided with a peak in confirmed EV-D68 cases.

Learning blossoms: Caregiver-infant interactions in an outdoor garden setting.

Plants provide unique opportunities for learning by engaging all human senses. Recent laboratory studies have shown that infants use a combination of behavioural avoidance and social learning strategies to safely learn about plant properties from adults. Here we investigate how infants and their caregivers interact with plants in an outdoor garden as a first step towards examining the operation of these social learning processes in naturalistic settings.

A Mixed Methods, Observational Investigation of Physical Activity, Exercise, and Diet Among Older Ugandans Living With and Without Chronic HIV Infection.

People living with HIV (PLWH) are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Physical activity, exercise, and controlled diet can mitigate this risk, yet these behaviors are understudied in sub-Saharan Africa. Our objective was to describe and compare the meaning, value, and patterns of physical activity, exercise, and diet among PLWH and older adults without HIV in Uganda.

New Records of Ixodes affinis (Acari: Ixodidae) Parasitizing Avian Hosts in Southeastern Virginia.

Ixodes affinis Neumann (Acari: Ixodidae) is a hard-bodied tick species distributed throughout much of the southeastern United States. Although I. affinis does not parasitize humans, it is a competent vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative-agent of Lyme disease, and thus contributes to the enzootic maintenance of this pathogen.

Rickettsia parkeri Transmission to Amblyomma americanum by Cofeeding with Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) and Potential for Spillover.

Amblyomma americanum (L.) is a human-biting ixodid tick distributed throughout much of the southeastern United States. Rickettsia parkeri is a member of the spotted fever group rickettsiae and causes a febrile illness in humans commonly referred to as "Tidewater spotted fever" or "R.

Experimental vertical transmission of Rickettsia parkeri in the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum.

Rickettsia parkeri, an obligate intracellular bacterium, is a member of the spotted fever group of rickettsiae (SFGR), and is transmitted to humans and other animals by invertebrate vectors. In the United States, the primary vector of R. parkeri is the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch.

Prevalence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii in Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis collected from southeastern Virginia, 2010-2011.

Amblyomma americanum is the most commonly encountered tick species in southeastern Virginia, representing approximately 95% of the human-biting tick population in this area. Here we investigated the prevalence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii in questing Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis ticks collected from multiple sites in southeastern Virginia from 2010 to 2011. Although both Ehrlichia species were detected in Amblyomma americanum, no evidence of either pathogen was found in Dermacentor variabilis.

Ehrlichia and spotted fever group Rickettsiae surveillance in Amblyomma americanum in Virginia through use of a novel six-plex real-time PCR assay.

The population of the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum has expanded in North America over the last several decades. It is known to be an aggressive and nondiscriminatory biter and is by far the most common human-biting tick encountered in Virginia. Few studies of human pathogen prevalence in ticks have been conducted in our state since the mid-twentieth century.

Ticks and spotted fever group rickettsiae of southeastern Virginia.

The incidence of tick-borne rickettsial disease in the southeastern United States has been rising steadily through the past decade, and the range expansions of tick species and tick-borne infectious agents, new and old, has resulted in an unprecedented mix of vectors and pathogens. The results of an ongoing 4-year surveillance project describe the relative abundance of questing tick populations in southeastern Virginia. Since 2009, more than 66,000 questing ticks of 7 species have been collected from vegetation in a variety of habitats, with Amblyomma americanum constituting over 95% of ticks collected.

Single-tube real-time PCR assay for differentiation of Ixodes affinis and Ixodes scapularis.

Ixodes affinis Neumann (1899) and Ixodes scapularis Say (1821) are tick vectors of the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. Ixodes affinis and I. scapularis are morphologically very similar, and as they are sympatric in the mid- and south-Atlantic U.

Risk-avoidant decision making increased by threat of electric shock.

Threat cues elicit defensive reactions mediated by limbic brain circuitry that is also implicated in risk-sensitive decision making. Building upon research looking at stress effects on decision making, a gambling task was administered to 65 healthy adults, comparing decision making on trials on which a red screen background signalled threat of shocks against trials when shocks could not occur. The threat cues elicited increased electrodermal activity and a sustained decrease in heart rate, consistent with defensive vigilance.

In vitro propagation of Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae isolated from Amblyomma maculatum.

Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae was identified during an investigation of a febrile outbreak in northwestern Peru (2002). DNA sequencing from two ticks (Amblyomma maculatum, Ixodes boliviensis) collected during the investigation revealed a novel Rickettsia agent with similarity to the spotted fever group rickettsiae. Since then, Candidatus R.

Rickettsia parkeri in gulf coast ticks, southeastern Virginia, USA.

We report evidence that Amblyomma maculatum tick populations are well established in southeastern Virginia. We found that 43.1% of the adult Gulf Coast ticks collected in the summer of 2010 carried Rickettsia parkeri, suggesting that persons living in or visiting southeastern Virginia are at risk for infection with this pathogen.