Molecular characterization and genetic diversity of Wolbachia endosymbionts in bed bugs (Hemiptera; Cimicidae) collected in Paris.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity of Wolbachia in field-caught bed bug species in Paris areas.

Methods: The bed bug specimens were captured from various infested localities in Paris and surrounding cities. They belonged to diverse life stages, including egg, nymph, and adult.

Effectiveness of heat treatment in rapid control of bed bugs in environmental conditions resembling their natural habitats.

We evaluated lethal temperatures and times for killing bed bugs in diverse covered and uncovered conditions simulating their natural habitats. A total of 5400 adult bed bugs were collected alive from 17 infested locations in Paris. They were morphologically identified in laboratory as .

Volatile Organic Compounds: A Promising Tool for Bed Bug Detection.

The recent decades' resurgence of bed bugs as a public health concern in industrialized countries has driven an increased interest on new sustainable insecticide-free methods to monitor and control these ectoparasites. Current methods of detection rely mainly on visual inspection or canine scent detection, which are methods that are time-consuming, require experience, are non-specific or require costly mission repetitions. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are considered an environmentally friendly alternative and a promising approach for bed bug detection.

Bed Bugs (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Population Diversity and First Record of in Paris.

and are blood-sucking insects with a long history of presence in human communities. We investigated the molecular diversity of the bed bug population of Paris and its suburb cities using cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) sequencing. A total of 1211 specimens belonging to different life stages were collected from 62 infested human dwellings in Paris (13 out of 20 arrondissements) and the surrounding cities (18 cities).

Widespread Mutations in Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Gene of (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) Populations in Paris.

Bed bugs, and are common blood-sucking ectoparasites of humans with a large geographical distribution, worldwide. In France, little is known about the status of bed bugs' infestation and their resistance to insecticides, particularly, pyrethroids. Here, we aimed to find mutations in the gene, known to be involved in resistance to insecticides.

Multiple causes of an unexpected malaria outbreak in a high-transmission area in Madagascar.

Background: The malaria burden in Madagascar dropped down last decade, largely due to scale-up of control measures. Nevertheless, a significant rise of malaria cases occurred in 2011-2012 in two regions of the rainy South-Eastern Madagascar, where malaria is considered as mesoendemic and the population is supposed to be protected by its acquired immunity against Plasmodium. A multidisciplinary investigation was conducted in order to identify the causes of the outbreak.

Delineation of the population genetic structure of Culicoides imicola in East and South Africa.

Background: Culicoides imicola Kieffer, 1913 is the main vector of bluetongue virus (BTV) and African horse sickness virus (AHSV) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the population genetic structure of this midge and the nature of barriers to gene flow will lead to a deeper understanding of bluetongue epidemiology and more effective vector control in this region.

Methods: A panel of 12 DNA microsatellite markers isolated de novo and mitochondrial DNA were utilized in a study of C.

Species Diversity, Abundance, and Host Preferences of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Two Different Ecotypes of Madagascar With Recent RVFV Transmission.

Mosquito diversity and abundance were examined in six Madagascan villages in either arid (Toliary II district) or humid (Mampikony district) ecotypes, each with a history of Rift Valley fever virus transmission. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light traps without CO2 (LT) placed near ruminant parks and animal-baited net trap (NT) baited with either zebu or sheep/goat were used to sample mosquitoes, on two occasions between March 2011 and October 2011. Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Giles) was the most abundant species, followed by Culex antennatus (Becker) and Anopheles squamosus/cydippis (Theobald/de Meillon).

Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) susceptibility to Deltamethrin in Madagascar.

The incidence of bubonic plague in Madagascar is high. This study reports the susceptibility of 32 different populations of a vector, the flea Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), to the insecticide Deltamethrin. Despite the use of Deltamethrin against fleas, plague epidemics have re-emerged in Madagascar.

Understanding the persistence of plague foci in Madagascar.

Plague, a zoonosis caused by Yersinia pestis, is still found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Madagascar reports almost one third of the cases worldwide. Y.

Towards a better understanding of Rift Valley fever epidemiology in the south-west of the Indian Ocean.

Rift Valley fever virus (Phlebovirus, Bunyaviridae) is an arbovirus causing intermittent epizootics and sporadic epidemics primarily in East Africa. Infection causes severe and often fatal illness in young sheep, goats and cattle. Domestic animals and humans can be contaminated by close contact with infectious tissues or through mosquito infectious bites.

Biology of mosquitoes that are potential vectors of Rift Valley Fever virus in different biotopes of the central highlands of Madagascar.

There were epidemic-epizootics of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) affecting humans and cattle in Madagascar in the district of Anjozorobe in 2008. Little is known about the role of Malagasy mosquitoes in the circulation of RVF virus. Therefore, we investigated the species diversity, dynamics and biology of potential RVF virus vectors in the rainforest, rainforest edge (village of Anorana), and savanna biotope (village of Antanifotsy) of this district between November 2008 and July 2010.

Modification of Anopheles gambiae distribution at high altitudes in Madagascar.

In Madagascar, Anopheles gambiae has been found below altitudes of 1,000 m. We sampled An. gambiae sensu lato (sl) between 2008 and 2010 in the Central Highlands of Madagascar at altitudes over 1,200 m.

Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) vectors of arboviruses in Mayotte (Indian Ocean): distribution area and larval habitats.

Biological invasions generally induce profound effects on the structure of resident communities. In Mayotte, where Aedes aegypti and Ae. lilii were already present, the recent introduction of Ae.

Family analysis of malaria infection in Dienga, Gabon.

Fifty children from 9 families were enrolled in a longitudinal study of 8 months to evaluate individual levels of Plasmodium falciparum density in blood during asymptomatic infections. Individual parasite densities were adjusted for age and date of blood intake. The arithmetic means of these adjusted parasite densities (MAPD) were not influenced by sickle cell trait nor by G6PD enzyme activity.