Regional variation in the landscape ecology of West Nile virus sentinel chicken seroconversion in Florida.

How landscape composition and configuration impact the distribution of multi-vector and multi-host mosquito vector-borne disease systems, such as West Nile virus (WNV), remains challenging because of complex habitat and resource requirements by hosts and vectors that affect transmission opportunities. We examined correlations between landscape composition and configuration and 2018 WNV sentinel chicken seroconversion in Florida, USA across the state and within five National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) bioclimatic regions to understand strength and variation of landscape effects during an elevated transmission year. Although few landscape studies have examined WNV in Florida, we expected higher percentages of residential or medium-developed landscapes and more fragmented landscapes would be positively correlated with WNV seroconversion owing to the main mosquito vector habitats and avian host distributions.

Broadscale spatial synchrony in a West Nile virus mosquito vector across multiple timescales.

Insects often exhibit irruptive population dynamics determined by environmental conditions. We examine if populations of the Culex tarsalis mosquito, a West Nile virus (WNV) vector, fluctuate synchronously over broad spatial extents and multiple timescales and whether climate drives synchrony in Cx. tarsalis, especially at annual timescales, due to the synchronous influence of temperature, precipitation, and/or humidity.

Bridging Biodiversity and Health: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility's initiative on open data on vectors of human diseases.

There is an increased awareness of the importance of data publication, data sharing, and open science to support research, monitoring and control of vector-borne disease (VBD). Here we describe the efforts of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) as well as the World Health Special Programme on Research and Training in Diseases of Poverty (TDR) to promote publication of data related to vectors of diseases. In 2020, a GBIF task group of experts was formed to provide advice and support efforts aimed at enhancing the coverage and accessibility of data on vectors of human diseases within GBIF.

Walking as a method for epistemic justice in sustainability.

We argue that walking as a method provides an integrative approach to advance epistemic justice in sustainability research. The theory and practice of walking as a method has grown quickly within the social sciences and arts but remains underrepresented in sustainability research, where walking is typically an object of study (e.g.

Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens from Wild Pigs in Northern and Central Florida.

Invasive wild pigs are distributed across much of the U.S. and are hosts to tick vectors of human disease.

Survey of Invasive Mosquito Surveillance and Control Capacity in Southeastern USA Reveals Training and Resource Needs.

Several invasive mosquito species that are nuisances or of medical and veterinary importance have been introduced into the Southeastern region of the USA, posing a threat to other species and the local ecosystems and/or increasing the risk of pathogen transmission to people, livestock, and domestic pets. Prompt and effective monitoring and control of invasive species is essential to prevent them from spreading and causing harmful effects. However, the capacity for invasive mosquito species surveillance is highly variable among mosquito control programs in the Southeast, depending on a combination of factors such as regional geography and climate, access to resources, and the ability to interact with other programs.

Climate, landscape, and life history jointly predict multidecadal community mosquito phenology.

Phenology of adult host-seeking female mosquitoes is a critical component for understanding potential for vector-borne pathogen maintenance and amplification in the natural environment. Despite this importance, long-term multi-species investigations of mosquito phenologies across environments and differing species' life history traits are rare. Here we leverage long-term mosquito control district monitoring data to characterize annual phenologies of 7 host-seeking female mosquito species over a 20-year time period in suburban Illinois, USA.

Predicting the potential distribution of in Florida and the Caribbean using ecological niche models.

Everglades virus (EVEV), an enzootic subtype of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, along with its endemic mosquito vector, , is known only from South Florida. The taxonomy of is complex and was once synonymous with and . We modeled potential distribution of in Florida and the Caribbean using an ecological niche model and compared this distribution to the recorded distribution of EVEV in Florida as well as historical records of /.

Co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito vectors of West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses using Markov Random Fields (MRFcov).

Mosquito vectors of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) in the USA reside within broad multi-species assemblages that vary in spatial and temporal composition, relative abundances and vector competence. These variations impact the risk of pathogen transmission and the operational management of these species by local public health vector control districts. However, most models of mosquito vector dynamics focus on single species and do not account for co-occurrence probabilities between mosquito species pairs across environmental gradients.

Predicting potential transmission risk of Everglades virus in Florida using mosquito blood meal identifications.

The overlap between arbovirus host, arthropod vectors, and pathogen distributions in environmentally suitable habitats represents a nidus where risk for pathogen transmission may occur. Everglades virus (EVEV), subtype II Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), is endemic to southern Florida where it is transmitted by the endemic vector between muroid rodent hosts. We developed an ecological niche model (ENM) to predict areas in Florida suitable for EVEV transmission based upon georeferenced vector-host interactions from PCR-based blood meal analysis from blood-engorged female females.

West Nile Virus Surveillance in Sentinel Chickens and Mosquitoes in Panama City Beach, Florida, from 2014 To 2020.

Over 20 years since its introduction, the West Nile virus (WNV) continues to be the leading cause of arboviral disease in the USA. In Panama City Beach (Bay County, FL), WNV transmission is monitored using sentinel chickens and testing mosquito pools for presence of viral RNA. In the current work, we monitored WNV transmission from 2014 to 2020 through weekly serology sampling of sentinel chickens; mosquito populations through biweekly mosquito collections by suction traps (1 m and 9 m) and weekly gravid trap collections; and mosquito infection rates using a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay.

Application of Deep Learning to Community-Science-Based Mosquito Monitoring and Detection of Novel Species.

Mosquito-borne diseases account for human morbidity and mortality worldwide, caused by the parasites (e.g., malaria) or viruses (e.

The effects of captivity on the microbiome of the endangered Comal Springs riffle beetle (Heterelmis comalensis).

The gut microbiome is affected by host intrinsic factors, diet and environment, and strongly linked to host's health. Although fluctuations of microbiome composition are normal, some are due to changes in host environmental conditions. When species are moved into captive environments for conservation, education or rehabilitation, these new conditions can influence a change in gut microbiome composition.

Mosquito Control Priorities in Florida-Survey Results from Florida Mosquito Control Districts.

Florida lies within a subtropical region where the climate allows diverse mosquito species including invasive species to thrive year-round. As of 2021, there are currently 66 state-approved Florida Mosquito Control Districts, which are major stakeholders for Florida public universities engaged in mosquito research. Florida is one of the few states with extensive organized mosquito control programs.

What Matters to Us: Impact of Telemedicine During the Pandemic in the Care of Patients With Sarcoma Across Scotland.

Purpose: In Scotland, approximately 350 sarcoma cases are diagnosed per year and treated in one of the five specialist centers. Many patients are required to travel long distances to access specialist care. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a number of rapid changes into the care for patients with cancer, with increasing utilization of telemedicine.

Invasive Burmese pythons alter host use and virus infection in the vector of a zoonotic virus.

The composition of wildlife communities can have strong effects on transmission of zoonotic vector-borne pathogens, with more diverse communities often supporting lower infection prevalence in vectors (dilution effect). The introduced Burmese python, Python bivittatus, is eliminating large and medium-sized mammals throughout southern Florida, USA, impacting local communities and the ecology of zoonotic pathogens. We investigated invasive predator-mediated impacts on ecology of Everglades virus (EVEV), a zoonotic pathogen endemic to Florida that circulates in mosquito-rodent cycle.

A need for clarity on surgical management of breast sarcoma: Scottish sarcoma network guidelines and regional audit.

Currently, there are no comprehensive breast sarcoma guidelines in the UK. There is therefore a need for guidelines to clarify surgical management, which we have based on data from our regional audit, current evidence, and consensus between West of Scotland Breast Cancer and Scottish Sarcoma Managed Clinical Networks. Methods and results: From 2007 to 2019, 46 patients were treated with breast sarcoma in the West of Scotland.

Mosquito Community Composition, Seasonal Distributions, and Trap Bias in Northeastern Florida.

Mosquito control agencies monitor mosquito diversity and abundance through a variety of trap types. Although various long-term ecological data sets exist, little work has been done to address the sampling effort required to capture mosquito community diversity by trap type and few spatiotemporal distributions of vector species have been described. Here, we describe the seasonal distributions of vector species of importance, assess trapping effort needed to capture the diversity of the mosquito community, and use a partial redundancy analysis to identify trap bias from four commonly deployed adult mosquito traps in Volusia County, Florida.

Potential distributions of Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis causing anthrax in Africa.

Background: Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis (Bcbva) is an emergent bacterium closely related to Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax. The latter has a worldwide distribution and usually causes infectious disease in mammals associated with savanna ecosystems. Bcbva was identified in humid tropical forests of Côte d'Ivoire in 2001.

Predicting Abundances of Aedes mcintoshi, a primary Rift Valley fever virus mosquito vector.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic arbovirus with important livestock and human health, and economic consequences across Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Climate and vegetation monitoring guide RVFV forecasting models and early warning systems; however, these approaches make monthly predictions and a need exists to predict primary vector abundances at finer temporal scales. In Kenya, an important primary RVFV vector is the mosquito Aedes mcintoshi.

Anthrax Epizootic in Wildlife, Bwabwata National Park, Namibia, 2017.

In late September 2017, Bwabwata National Park in Namibia experienced a sudden die-off of hippopotamuses and Cape buffalo. A multiorganizational response was initiated, involving several ministries within Namibia and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rapid interventions resulted in zero human or livestock cases associated with this epizootic.

Predictable invasion dynamics in North American populations of the Eurasian collared dove .

Species invasions represent a significant dimension of global change yet the dynamics of invasions remain poorly understood and are considered rather unpredictable. We explored interannual dynamics of the invasion process in the Eurasian collared dove () and tested whether the advance of the invasion front of the species in North America relates to centrality (versus peripherality) within its estimated fundamental ecological niche. We used ecological niche modelling approaches to estimate the dimensions of the fundamental ecological niche on the Old World distribution of the species, and then transferred that model to the New World as measures of centrality versus peripherality within the niche for the species.