Borrelia miyamotoi a neglected tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete in Thailand.

Borrelia miyamotoi is a relapsing fever spirochete that shares the same vector as Lyme disease causing Borrelia. This epidemiological study of B. miyamotoi was conducted in rodent reservoirs, tick vectors and human populations simultaneously.

Establishment of a Rhesus Macaque Model for Scrub Typhus Transmission: Pilot Study to Evaluate the Minimal Transmission Time by Chiggers.

Recently, an intradermal inoculation of the rhesus macaque model of scrub typhus has been characterized at our institution. The current project was to establish a rhesus macaque model of scrub typhus using the naturally infected chigger challenge method that faithfully mimics the natural route of pathogen transmission to fully understand the host-pathogen-vector interactions influencing pathogen transmission. Unlike the needle-based inoculation route, -infected chiggers introduce both pathogen and chigger saliva into the host epidermis at the bite site.

Anopheles bionomics in a malaria endemic area of southern Thailand.

Background: Ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) could accelerate malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Subregion. This study was performed to characterize the bionomics of Anopheles in Surat Thani province, Thailand.

Methods: Mosquitoes were collected via human landing collections between February and October 2019.

Assessing scrub typhus and rickettsioses transmission risks in the Chiang Rai province of northern Thailand.

Background: Scrub typhus is an important disease in the Asia-Pacific countries with increasing relevance for public health worldwide. Entomological risk assessment for scrub typhus and rickettsial disease in Phu Chi Fah village-Chiang Rai was performed to determine areas at greatest risk for disease transmission in order to increase awareness of diseases to travelers and healthcare workers.

Methods: From 2016 to 2018, rodents and chiggers were collected from 7 sites covering residential, grassland, and forest areas to determine the prevalence of pathogen of interest.

Low Prevalence of Carriage in Rodents in Leptospirosis-Endemic Northeastern Thailand.

Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease affecting mostly the world's tropical regions. The rural people of northeastern Thailand suffer from a large number of leptospirosis infections, and their abundant rice fields are optimal rodent habitats. To evaluate the contribution of diversity and carriage rate of pathogenic in rodent reservoirs to leptospirosis incidence, we surveyed rodents, between 2011 and 2012, in four provinces in northeastern Thailand with the highest incidence rates of human leptospirosis cases.

Ivermectin susceptibility and sporontocidal effect in Greater Mekong Subregion Anopheles.

Background: Novel vector control methods that can directly target outdoor malaria transmission are urgently needed in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to accelerate malaria elimination and artemisinin resistance containment efforts. Ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) to humans has been shown to effectively kill wild Anopheles and suppress malaria transmission in West Africa. Preliminary laboratory investigations were performed to determine ivermectin susceptibility and sporontocidal effect in GMS Anopheles malaria vectors coupled with pharmacokinetic models of ivermectin at escalating doses.

Vector Competence of Anopheles kleini and Anopheles sinensis (Diptera: Culicidae) From the Republic of Korea to Vivax Malaria-Infected Blood From Patients From Thailand.

In total, 1,300 each of Anopheles kleini Rueda and Anopheles sinensis Wiedemann sensu stricto (s.s.) females (colonized from the Republic of Korea) and Anopheles dirus Peyton & Harrison (Thai strain) were allowed to feed on blood from Thai malaria patients naturally infected with Plasmodium vivax The overall oocyst infection rates for An.

The Distribution and Diversity of Bartonella Species in Rodents and Their Ectoparasites across Thailand.

Our study highlights the surveillance of Bartonella species among rodents and their associated ectoparasites (ticks, fleas, lice, and mites) in several regions across Thailand. A total of 619 rodents and 554 pooled ectoparasites (287 mite pools, 62 flea pools, 35 louse pools, and 170 tick pools) were collected from 8 provinces within 4 regions of Thailand. Bandicota indica (279), Rattus rattus (163), and R.

The relationship between wing length, blood meal volume, and fecundity for seven colonies of Anopheles species housed at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.

Established colonies of Anopheles campestris, Anopheles cracens, Anopheles dirus, Anopheles kleini, Anopheles minimus, Anopheles sawadwongporni, and Anopheles sinensis are maintained at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS). Females were provided blood meals on human blood containing citrate as an anticoagulant using an artificial membrane feeder. The mean wing length, used as an estimate of body size, for each species was compared to blood-feeding duration (time), blood meal volume, and numbers of eggs oviposited.

Factors influencing the feeding response of laboratory-reared Aedes aegypti.

We evaluated the effects of membrane surface area (cm2), female density, and container/cage size on feeding response in laboratory-reared Aedes aegypti. Female density did not affect feeding rates at low surface areas, but higher density did significantly increase feeding as surface area increased. Females in large, cloth cages fed less compared to those in large, plastic cups.

Development and evaluation of a pyriproxyfen-treated device to control the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera:Culicidae).

The resurgence of dengue fever and the chikungunya epidemic make the control of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the vectors of these diseases, critically important. We developed and evaluated an Ae. aegypti control device that is visually-attractive to mosquitoes.

Variable clinical responses of a scrub typhus outbred mouse model to feeding by Orientia tsutsugamushi infected mites.

Rodents are the natural hosts for Leptotrombidium mites that transmit Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative agent of scrub typhus, a potentially fatal febrile human disease. Utilizing mite lines that included O. tsutsugamushi infected and non-infected Leptotrombidium species we investigated the varied infection response of outbred mice (ICR) exposed to L.