Potential for the Invasive Species Aedes Albopictus and Arboviral Transmission through the Chabahar Port in Iran.

Background: Dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses are emerging infectious disease threats wherever suitable vectors, hosts, and habitat are present. The aim of the present study was to use the bioagent transport and environmental modeling system (BioTEMS) to identify the potential for arbovirus-infected species to invade the Chabahar area in southeastern Iran.

Methods: ArcGIS geospatial analysis software, Statistica software, and BioTEMS were used to analyze geographic information and conduct data analysis.

Assessing likely invasion sites of Zika virus-infected mosquitoes in civilian and naval maritime ports in Florida.

Several mosquito species are capable of invading new geographic regions and exploiting niches that are similar to their natural home ranges where they may introduce, or reintroduce, pathogens. In addition to initial invasion, introduction of new genotypes into established populations may also occur. Zika virus is spreading throughout the world, posing significant health risks to human populations, particularly pregnant women and their infants.

Preliminary Report on the Reduction of Adult Mosquitoes in Housing Compounds in Western Kenya Using the ProVector Flower and Entobac Bait Pads Containing Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis With Honey Bait.

Reducing mosquito populations indoors and outdoors can have a significant impact on malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. A new formulation and delivery system for Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) was tested against adult mosquitoes. One Entobac bait with 7% Bti in a honey solution was placed within each ProVector Flower applicator.

Seasonal distribution of ticks in four habitats near the demilitarized zone, Gyeonggi-do (Province), Republic of Korea.

This study describes the seasonal distribution of larvae, nymph, and adult life stages for 3 species of ixodid ticks collected by tick drag and sweep methods from various habitats in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Grasses less than 0.5 m in height, including herbaceous and crawling vegetation, and deciduous, conifer, and mixed forests with abundant leaf/needle litter were surveyed at United States (US) and ROK operated military training sites and privately owned lands near the demilitarized zone from April-October, 2004 and 2005.

Comparison of dragging and sweeping methods for collecting ticks and determining their seasonal distributions for various habitats, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea.

As part of the 65th Medical Brigade tick-borne disease surveillance program to determine the abundance, geographical and seasonal distributions, and tick-borne pathogens present in the Republic of Korea, dragging and sweeping methods were compared to determine their efficiency for collecting ticks in grass and deciduous, conifer, and mixed forest habitats at military training sites and privately owned lands in northern Gyeonggi Province near the demilitarized zone from April-October, 2004-2005. Three species of Ixodid ticks, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Haemaphysalis flava, and Ixodes nipponensis, were collected. Overall, H.

Variation of circumsporozoite 26 and 29 genotypes of Plasmodium falciparum infecting patients and association with HLA-DQA allotypes in western Thailand.

We evaluated the proportion of variants of circumsporozoite protein (cp) gene 26 and cp29 antigenic epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum infecting patients among 3 provinces in western Thailand, in addition to published variants from Gambia. The proportion of patients coinfected with cp26 and cp29 strains was significantly higher in patients reporting to malaria clinics in Tak than in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi and higher in Kanchanaburi than in Ratchaburi. In western Thailand, coinfection with cp26 and cp29 appears to increase with increasing latitude.

Occurrence of Orientia tsutsugamushi in small mammals from Thailand.

Extensive sampling of small mammals was conducted in eight provinces of Thailand between September 9, 1992 and April 29, 2001. A total of 3,498 specimens representing 22 species were collected. Eighty-eight percent (3,089 of 3,498) of the animals were collected from a region in Chiangrai Province, which is commonly recognized as endemic for human scrub typhus.

Evidence of Borrelia lonestari DNA in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) removed from humans.

We used a nested PCR with Borrelia flagellin gene (flaB) primers and DNA sequencing to determine if Borrelia lonestari was present in Amblyomma americanum ticks removed from military personnel and sent to the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.

Short report: variation in the 56-kD type-specific antigen gene of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from patients in Thailand.

The sequences of a 300-base pair region of the 56-kD type-specific antigen gene from 12 Orientia tsutsugamushi isolates from Thailand were compared with isolates from other regions in Asia. A high degree of heterogeneity was found among the 12 Thai isolates, with the C3 strain most commonly found. The abundance of the C3 strain of O.

Host associations and seasonal occurrence of Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, Ixodes brunneus, I. cookei, I. dentatus, and I. texanus (Acari: Ixodidae) in Southeastern Missouri.

Hemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard), Ixodes brunneus Koch, Ixodes cookei Packard, Ixodes dentatus Marx, and Ixodes texanus Banks were collected during a 3-yr study of pathogen-tick-host interactions in southeastern Missouri. H. leporispalustris was collected from the eastern cottontail rabbit, Northern bobwhite, and Carolina wren, and it was active all year.

Antibodies to leptospirosis in rodents from Thailand using a modified human diagnostic assay.

The number of reported cases of Leptospirosis in Thailand has grown since 1996. Identification of major reservoirs and endemic areas is essential in surveillance of Leptospira species in Thailand. To assist in the effort of surveillance, a dipstick assay for detecting Leptospira antibodies in mammals was adapted from a human diagnostic assay and tested in a field trial in Thailand.

Efficiency of Leptotrombidium chiggers (Acari: Trombiculidae) at transmitting Orientia tsutsugamushi to laboratory mice.

Thirteen different laboratory colonies of Leptotrombidim chiggers [L. chiangraiensis Tanskul & Linthicum, L. deliense Walch and L.