COMPARISON OF NANOPORE AND CLASSICAL SANGER SEQUENCING TO IDENTIFY MOSQUITO BLOODMEAL HOSTS.

The tools available to vector control districts (VCDs) to collect mosquito surveillance data are constantly evolving. As more VCDs obtain real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instruments and the costs associated with computing power and next-generation sequencing continue to decrease, the option of generating useful molecular data in-house becomes more viable. Measures such as arbovirus testing and genotyping for insecticide resistance mutations using RT-qPCR, and identifying species used for mosquito bloodmeals with next-generation sequencing or Sanger sequencing are examples.

Field-Collected Ticks From Benton County, Arkansas, and Prevalence of Associated Pathogens.

The recovery of a Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann (Acari: Ixodidae) tick from a dog in Benton County, Arkansas, in 2018 triggered a significant environmental sampling effort in Hobbs State Park Conservation Area. The objective of the investigation was to assess the tick population density and diversity, as well as identify potential tick-borne pathogens that could pose a risk to public health. During a week-long sampling period in August of 2018, a total of 6,154 ticks were collected, with the majority identified as Amblyomma americanum (L), (Acari: Ixodidae) commonly known as the lone star tick.

Predicted reduction in transmission from deployment of ivermectin-treated birdfeeders for local control of West Nile virus.

Ivermectin (IVM)-treated birds provide the potential for targeted control of Culex mosquitoes to reduce West Nile virus (WNV) transmission. Ingestion of IVM increases mosquito mortality, which could reduce WNV transmission from birds to humans and in enzootic maintenance cycles affecting predominantly bird-feeding mosquitoes and from birds to humans. This strategy might also provide an alternative method for WNV control that is less hampered by insecticide resistance and the logistics of large-scale pesticide applications.

A rare case of a laryngeal angiomyolipoma.

Laryngeal angiomyolipoma is a rare tumor with few reported cases in the literature. The case report explains a 62-year-old man who presents with dyspnea and found to have a laryngeal angiomyolipoma staining CD34 positive, but HMB45 and Melan-A negative.

Colorado Tick Fever Virus in the Far West: Forgotten, but Not Gone.

In the past few decades, reported human cases of Colorado tick fever in the western United States have decreased dramatically. The goal of this study was to conduct surveillance for Colorado tick fever virus (CTFV) in ticks in recreational sites in Colorado, Wyoming, and California to determine whether the virus is still present in ticks from these states. Surveillance focused on regions where surveys had been conducted in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Mosquito Control Activities during Local Transmission of Zika Virus, Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, 2016.

In 2016, four clusters of local mosquitoborne Zika virus transmission were identified in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, generating "red zones" (areas into which pregnant women were advised against traveling). The Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control Division initiated intensive control activities, including property inspections, community education, and handheld sprayer applications of larvicides and adulticides. For the first time, the Mosquito Control Division used a combination of areawide ultralow-volume adulticide and low-volume larvicide spraying to effectively control Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the primary Zika virus vector within the county.

Zika Virus Surveillance at the Human-Animal Interface in West-Central Brazil, 2017-2018.

Zika virus (ZIKV) was first discovered in 1947 in Uganda but was not considered a public health threat until 2007 when it found to be the source of epidemic activity in Asia. Epidemic activity spread to Brazil in 2014 and continued to spread throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Despite ZIKV being zoonotic in origin, information about transmission, or even exposure of non-human vertebrates and mosquitoes to ZIKV in the Americas, is lacking.

Bourbon Virus in Wild and Domestic Animals, Missouri, USA, 2012-2013.

Since its recent discovery, Bourbon virus has been isolated from a human and ticks. To assess exposure of potential vertebrate reservoirs, we assayed banked serum and plasma samples from wildlife and domestic animals in Missouri, USA, for Bourbon virus-neutralizing antibodies. We detected high seroprevalence in raccoons (50%) and white-tailed deer (86%).

Focal amplification and suppression of West Nile virus transmission associated with communal bird roosts in northern Colorado.

To explain the patchy distribution of West Nile virus (WNV), we propose that avian immunity encountered by Culex vectors regulates WNV transmission, particularly at communal bird roosts. To test this hypothesis, we selected two test sites with communally roosting American robins (Turdus migratorius) and two control sites that lacked communal roosts. The density of vector-vertebrate contacts, represented by engorged Culex pipiens, was 23-fold greater at test sites compared to control sites, and the density of blood-engorged Cx.

Flanders hapavirus in western North America.

Flanders virus (FLAV; family Rhabdoviridae) is a mosquito-borne hapavirus with no known pathology that is frequently isolated during arbovirus surveillance programs. Here, we document the presence of FLAV in Culex tarsalis mosquitoes and a Canada goose (Branta canadensis) collected in western North America, outside of the currently recognized range of FLAV. Until now, FLAV-like viruses detected in the western United States were assumed to be Hart Park virus (HPV, family Rhabdoviridae), a closely related congener.

Spontaneous Labyrinthine Hemorrhage: A Case Series.

Objectives: To describe patient characteristics, audiometric outcomes, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal patterns in patients with suspected labyrinthine hemorrhage.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Tertiary medical center.

Surveillance for Heartland and Bourbon Viruses in Eastern Kansas, June 2016.

In June 2016, we continued surveillance for tick-borne viruses in eastern Kansas following upon a larger surveillance program initiated in 2015 in response to a fatal human case of Bourbon virus (BRBV) (Family Orthomyxoviridae: Genus Thogotovirus). In 4 d, we collected 14,193 ticks representing four species from four sites. Amblyomma americanum (L.

DETERMINING RAPTOR SPECIES AND TISSUE SENSITIVITY FOR IMPROVED WEST NILE VIRUS SURVEILLANCE.

Raptors are a target sentinel species for West Nile virus (WNV) because many are susceptible to WNV disease, they are easily sighted because of their large size, and they often occupy territories near human settlements. Sick and dead raptors accumulate at raptor and wildlife rehabilitation clinics. However, investigations into species selection and specimen type for efficient detection of WNV are lacking.

Neutralizing antibodies against flaviviruses, Babanki virus, and Rift Valley fever virus in Ugandan bats.

A number of arboviruses have previously been isolated from naturally-infected East African bats, however the role of bats in arbovirus maintenance is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the exposure history of Ugandan bats to a panel of arboviruses. Insectivorous and fruit bats were captured from multiple locations throughout Uganda during 2009 and 2011-2013.

Surveillance for Tick-Borne Viruses Near the Location of a Fatal Human Case of Bourbon Virus (Family Orthomyxoviridae: Genus Thogotovirus) in Eastern Kansas, 2015.

Bourbon virus (Family Orthomyxoviridae: Genus Thogotovirus) was first isolated from a human case-patient residing in Bourbon County, Kansas, who subsequently died. Before becoming ill in late spring of 2014, the patient reported several tick bites. In response, we initiated tick surveillance in Bourbon County and adjacent southern Linn County during spring and summer of 2015.

Bourbon Virus in Field-Collected Ticks, Missouri, USA.

Bourbon virus (BRBV) was first isolated in 2014 from a resident of Bourbon County, Kansas, USA, who died of the infection. In 2015, an ill Payne County, Oklahoma, resident tested positive for antibodies to BRBV, before fully recovering. We retrospectively tested for BRBV in 39,096 ticks from northwestern Missouri, located 240 km from Bourbon County, Kansas.

Diagnostic Challenges in a Case of IgG4-RD Affecting the Temporal Bone.

Introduction: Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a recently described fibroinflammatory condition with a characteristic histology. While IgG4-RD can affect a great variety of anatomical sites, it has been seldom described in the temporal bone.

Methods: Herein, a case IgG4-RD occurring in the temporal bone of a 35-year-old woman is reported.

Otopolyposis With Middle Ear Allergic Mucin in a Patient With Allergic Fungal Rhinosinusitis.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to report a case of otopolyposis and middle ear allergic mucin in a patient with allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) and no history of middle ear disease and introduce these as possible otologic manifestations of the AFRS.

Methods: A case of a 31-year-old female with the aforementioned findings is reported. A review of the pertinent literature was performed.

Presbynasalis.

Background: As with all systems in the body, the nose and paranasal sinuses change in time as we age. Some of these changes have been individually studied, but a unified description of current research has not been published since 1996. Since that time, a great deal has changed in our understanding of the aging nose.

Intranasal volume increases with age: Computed tomography volumetric analysis in adults.

Objectives/hypothesis: It is theorized that intranasal cavity volumes change throughout the aging process, possibly secondary to hormonal changes and atrophy of the sinonasal mucosa. Our objective is to compare intranasal volumes from different age groups to test the hypothesis that intranasal cavity volume increases with age.

Study Design: Case series.

Surveillance for Heartland Virus (Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) in Missouri During 2013: First Detection of Virus in Adults of Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae).

During 2013, we collected and tested ticks for Heartland virus (HRTV), a recently described human pathogen in the genus Phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae), from six sites in northwestern Missouri. Five sites were properties owned by HRTV patients, and the sixth was a conservation area that yielded virus in ticks during 2012. We collected 39,096 ticks representing five species; however, two species, Amblyomma americanum (L.

Serological investigation of heartland virus (Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) exposure in wild and domestic animals adjacent to human case sites in Missouri 2012-2013.

Heartland virus (HRTV; Bunyaviridae: Phlebovirus) has recently emerged as a causative agent of human disease characterized by thrombocytopenia and leukopenia in the United States. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum L.) has been implicated as a vector.