A regional One Health approach to the risk of invasion by Anopheles stephensi in Mauritius.

Background: Anopheles stephensi is an invasive malaria vector in Africa that threatens to put an additional 126 million people at risk of malaria if it continues to spread. The island nation of Mauritius is highly connected to Asia and Africa and is at risk of introduction due to this connectivity. For early detection of An.

A sound trap for Aedes albopictus (Skuse) male surveillance:Response analysis to acoustic and visual stimuli.

Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is one of the most invasive mosquito species capable of transmitting various harmful pathogens to humans. Failure of vector control strategies against this species requires the development of new effective vector control methods. Among the alternative genetic control measures under development, the sterile insect technique (SIT) is today receiving a renewed interest as a possible effective tool to be integrated in an area-wide pest management approach.

Global genetic diversity of Aedes aegypti.

Mosquitoes, especially Aedes aegypti, are becoming important models for studying invasion biology. We characterized genetic variation at 12 microsatellite loci in 79 populations of Ae. aegypti from 30 countries in six continents, and used them to infer historical and modern patterns of invasion.

Guidelines to site selection for population surveillance and mosquito control trials: a case study from Mauritius.

Many novel approaches to controlling mosquito vectors through the release of sterile and mass reared males are being developed in the face of increasing insecticide resistance and other limitations of current methods. Before full scale release programmes can be undertaken there is a need for surveillance of the target population, and investigation of parameters such as dispersal and longevity of released, as compared to wild males through mark-release-recapture (MRR) and other experiments, before small scale pilot trials can be conducted. The nature of the sites used for this field work is crucial to ensure that a trial can feasibly collect sufficient and relevant information, given the available resources and practical limitations, and having secured the correct regulatory, community and ethical approvals and support.

Effects of static magnetic fields on growth of Paramecium caudatum.

Little is known about the influence of magnetic fields on growth of primitive eukaryotes such as the ciliate Paramecium. The latter are known to exhibit interesting characteristics such as electrotaxis, gravitaxis, and membrane excitability not commonly encountered in higher organisms. This preliminary study reports the effects of static magnetic fields on growth of Paramecium caudatum.