scholarly journals Detection of Cell-Fusing Agent virus across ecologically diverse populations of Aedes aegypti on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Claire L. Jeffries ◽  
Mia White ◽  
Louisia Wilson ◽  
Laith Yakob ◽  
Thomas Walker
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Vector Surveillance ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
History Of ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Saint Lucia

Background. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne arboviral diseases including dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), yellow fever virus (YFV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have recently occurred in the Caribbean. The geographical range of the principal vectors responsible for transmission, Aedes (Ae.) aegypti and Ae. albopictus are increasing and greater mosquito surveillance is needed in the Caribbean given international tourism is so prominent. The island of Saint Lucia has seen outbreaks of DENV and CHIKV in the past five years but vector surveillance has been limited with the last studies dating back to the late 1970s. Natural disasters have changed the landscape of Saint Lucia and the island has gone through significant urbanisation. Methods. In this study, we conducted an entomological survey of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus distribution across the island and analysed environmental parameters associated with the presence of these species in addition to screening for medically important arboviruses and other flaviviruses. Results. Although we collected Ae. aegypti across a range of sites across the island, no Ae. albopictus were collected despite traps being placed in diverse ecological settings. The number of Ae. aegypti collected was significantly associated with higher elevation, and semi-urban settings yielded female mosquito counts per trap-day that were five-fold lower than urban settings. Screening for arboviruses revealed a high prevalence of cell-fusing agent virus (CFAV). Conclusions. Outbreaks of arboviruses transmitted by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus have a history of occurring in small tropical islands and Saint Lucia is particularly vulnerable given the limited resources available to undertake vector control and manage outbreaks. Surveillance strategies can identify risk areas for predicting future outbreaks. Further research is needed to determine the diversity of current mosquito species, investigate insect-specific viruses, as well as pathogenic arboviruses, and this should also be extended to the neighbouring smaller Caribbean islands.

scholarly journals Detection of a novel insect-specific flavivirus across ecologically diverse populations of Aedes aegypti on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Claire L. Jeffries ◽  
Mia White ◽  
Louisia Wilson ◽  
Laith Yakob ◽  
Thomas Walker
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Vector Surveillance ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
History Of ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Saint Lucia

Background. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne arboviral diseases including dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), yellow fever virus (YFV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have recently occurred in the Caribbean. The geographical range of the principle vectors responsible for transmission, Aedes (Ae.) aegypti and Ae. albopictus is increasing and greater mosquito surveillance is needed in the Caribbean given international tourism is so prominent. The island of Saint Lucia has seen outbreaks of DENV and CHIKV in the past five years but vector surveillance has been limited with the last studies dating back to the late 1970s. Natural disasters have changed the landscape of Saint Lucia and the island has gone through significant urbanisation. Methods. In this study, we conducted an entomological survey of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus distribution across the island and analysed environmental parameters associated with the presence of these species in addition to screening for medically important arboviruses and other flaviviruses. Results. Although we collected Ae. aegypti across a range of sites across the island, no Ae. albopictus were collected despite traps being placed in diverse ecological settings. The number of Ae. aegypti collected was significantly associated with higher elevation, and semi-urban settings yielded female mosquito counts per trap-day that were five-fold lower than urban settings. Screening for arboviruses revealed a high prevalence of a novel insect-specific flavivirus closely related to cell fusing agent virus (CFAV). Conclusions. Outbreaks of arboviruses transmitted by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus have a history of occurring in small tropical islands and Saint Lucia is particularly vulnerable given the limited resources available to undertake vector control and manage outbreaks. Surveillance strategies can identify risk areas for predicting future outbreaks and further research is needed to determine the diversity of current mosquito species and this should be extended to the neighbouring smaller Caribbean islands.

scholarly journals Detection of a novel insect specific flavivirus across ecologically diverse populations of Aedes aegypti on the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.L. Jeffries ◽  
M. White ◽  
L. Wilson ◽  
L. Yakob ◽  
T. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Yellow Fever Virus ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Vector Surveillance ◽  
Mosquito Surveillance ◽  
Urban Settings ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Arboviral Diseases ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Saint Lucia

ABSTRACTOutbreaks of mosquito-borne arboviral diseases including dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), yellow fever virus (YFV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) have recently occurred in the Caribbean. The geographical range of the principle vectors responsible for transmission, Aedes (Ae.) aegypti and Ae. albopictus is increasing and greater mosquito surveillance is needed in the Caribbean given international tourism is so prominent. The island of Saint Lucia has seen outbreaks of DENV and CHIKV in the past five years but vector surveillance has been limited with the last studies dating back to the late 1970s. Natural disasters have changed the landscape of Saint Lucia and the island has gone through significant urbanisation. In this study, we conducted an entomological survey of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus distribution across the island and analysed environmental parameters associated with the presence of these species. Although we collected Ae. aegypti across a range of sites across the island, no Ae. albopictus were collected despite traps being placed in diverse ecological settings. The number of Ae. aegypti collected was significantly associated with higher elevation and semi-urban settings yielded female mosquito counts per trap-day that were 5-fold lower than urban settings. Screening for arboviruses revealed a high prevalence of a novel insect-specific flavivirus closely related to cell fusing agent virus (CFAV). We discuss the implications that natural disasters, water storage and lack of mosquito surveillance have on arboviral outbreaks in Saint Lucia and implications for insect only flaviviruses on surveillance and detection of pathogenic flaviviruses.

scholarly journals Spintharus flavidus in the Caribbean – a 30 million year biogeographical history and radiation of a ‘widespread species’

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin Dziki ◽  
Greta Binford ◽  
Jonathan A Coddington ◽  
Ingi Agnarsson
Keyword(s):  
Single Species ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Island Endemics ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Limited Dispersal ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

The Caribbean island biota is characterized by high levels of endemism, the result of an interplay between colonization opportunities on islands and effective oceanic barriers among them. A relatively small percentage of the biota is represented by ‘widespread species’, presumably taxa for which oceanic barriers are ineffective. Few studies have explored in detail the genetic structure of widespread Caribbean taxa. The cobweb spider Spintharus flavidus Hentz, 1850 (Theridiidae) is one of two described Spintharus species and is unique in being widely distributed from northern N. America to Brazil and throughout the Caribbean. As a taxonomic hypothesis, Spintharus “flavidus” predicts maintenance of gene flow among Caribbean islands, a prediction that seems contradicted by known S. flavidus biology, which suggests limited dispersal ability. As part of an extensive survey of Caribbean arachnids (project CarBio), we conducted the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of S. flavidus with the primary goal of testing the ‘widespread species’ hypothesis. Our results, while limited to three molecular loci, reject the hypothesis of a single widespread species. Instead this lineage seems to represent a radiation with at least 16 species in the Caribbean region. Nearly all are short range endemics with several distinct mainland groups and others being single island endemics. While limited taxon sampling, with a single specimen from S. America, constrains what we can infer about the biogeographical history of the lineage, clear patterns still emerge. Consistent with limited overwater dispersal, we find evidence for a single colonization of the Caribbean about 30 million years ago, coinciding with the timing of the GAARLandia landbridge hypothesis. In sum, S. “flavidus” is not a single species capable of frequent overwater dispersal, but rather a 30 my old radiation of single island endemics that provides preliminary support for a complex and contested geological hypothesis.

scholarly journals A genetic history of the pre-contact Caribbean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Fernandes ◽  
Kendra A. Sirak ◽  
Harald Ringbauer ◽  
Jakob Sedig ◽  
Nadin Rohland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Population Size Estimates ◽  
Ceramic Age ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

Humans settled the Caribbean ~6,000 years ago, with intensified agriculture and ceramic use marking a shift from the Archaic Age to the Ceramic Age ~2,500 years ago. To shed new light on the history of Caribbean people, we report genome-wide data from 184 individuals predating European contact from The Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Curaçao, and northwestern Venezuela. A largely homogeneous ceramic-using population most likely originating in northeastern South America and related to present-day Arawak-speaking groups moved throughout the Caribbean at least 1,800 years ago, spreading ancestry that is still detected in parts of the region today. These people eventually almost entirely replaced Archaic-related lineages in Hispaniola but not in northwestern Cuba, where unadmixed Archaic-related ancestry persisted into the last millennium. We document high mobility and inter-island connectivity throughout the Ceramic Age as reflected in relatives buried ~75 kilometers apart in Hispaniola and low genetic differentiation across many Caribbean islands, albeit with subtle population structure distinguishing the Bahamian islands we studied from the rest of the Caribbean and from each other, and long-term population continuity in southeastern coastal Hispaniola differentiating this region from the rest of the island. Ceramic-associated people avoided close kin unions despite limited mate pools reflecting low effective population sizes (2Ne=1000-2000) even at sites on the large Caribbean islands. While census population sizes can be an order of magnitude larger than effective population sizes, pan-Caribbean population size estimates of hundreds of thousands are likely too large. Transitions in pottery styles show no evidence of being driven by waves of migration of new people from mainland South America; instead, they more likely reflect the spread of ideas and people within an interconnected Caribbean world.

scholarly journals Pictorial keys for the identification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) associated with Dengue Virus Transmission

Zootaxa ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 589 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
LEOPOLDO M. RUEDA
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Depth Of Field ◽  
North Central ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Afrotropical Region ◽  
Optimum Depth ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
South Pacific Islands

Identification keys are provided for female adults and fourth stage larvae of the mosquito species likely to transmit dengue viruses in 4 regions of the world. The keys are illustrated with Auto-Montage photomicrographs, allowing optimum depth of field and resolution. Species included for the Afrotropical Region are: Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus), Ae. (Stg.) africanus (Theobald),Ae. (Stg.) albopictus (Skuse), Ae. (Stg.) luteocephalus (Newstead), Ae. (Stg.) opok Corbet and Van Someren, Ae. (Diceromyia) furcifer (Edwards), and Ae. (Dic.) taylori Edwards; for the South Pacific Islands and Australian Region: Ae. (Stg.) aegypti, Ae. (Stg.) albopictus, Ae. (Stg.) cooki Belkin, Ae. (Stg.) hebrideus Edwards, Ae. (Stg.) hensilli Farner, Ae. (Stg.) polynesiensis Marks, Ae. (Stg.) rotumae Belkin, Ae. (Stg.) scutellaris (Walker), and Ochlerotatus (Finlaya) notoscriptus (Skuse); for the Oriental Region: Ae. (Stg.) aegypti, Ae. (Stg.) albopictus, and Oc. (Fin.) niveus subgroup; and for the American Region (North, Central and South America, including the Caribbean Islands): Ae. (Stg.) aegypti, Ae. (Stg.) albopictus, and Oc. (Gymnometopa) mediovittatus (Coquillett).

scholarly journals Césaire, Glissant e Chamoiseau: identidade antilhana e tradição literária / Césaire, Glissant and Chamoiseau: Antillean Identity and Literary Tradition

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Danielle Grace
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Literary Tradition ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Aime Cesaire ◽  
Patrick Chamoiseau ◽  
Edouard Glissant ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

Resumo: O presente artigo procura discutir algumas questões que envolvem a literatura antilhana de língua francesa. A partir de três autores, Aimé Césaire, Édouard Glissant e Patrick Chamoiseau, pretende-se seguir os indícios de uma tradição literária que se constrói ao mesmo tempo em que se deseja definir os contornos de uma identidade propriamente antilhana. Nessa esteira, examinam-se alguns conceitos que atravessam a história literária das ilhas caribenhas, tal como a negritude, a crioulização e a crioulidade, que se apresentam como ideias-chave para pensar não somente a produção criativa e poética, mas também o arcabouço teórico que acompanha a prática literária desses autores.Palavras-chave: literatura antilhana; negritude; crioulização; crioulidade.Abstract: This article seeks to discuss some issues involving French-speaking Antillean literature. Through three authors, Aimé Césaire, Édouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau, we intend to follow the indications of a literary tradition that is built at the same time that we want to define the contours of a properly Antillean identity. In this context, we examine some concepts that cross the literary history of the Caribbean islands, such as négritude, créolisation and créolité, which are presented as key ideas to think not only about creative and poetic production, but also the theoretical framework accompanying the literary practice of these authors..Keywords: Antillean literature; négritude; créolisation; créolité.

scholarly journals Spintharus flavidus in the Caribbean – a 30 million year biogeographical history and radiation of a ‘widespread species’

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin Dziki ◽  
Greta Binford ◽  
Jonathan A Coddington ◽  
Ingi Agnarsson
Keyword(s):  
Single Species ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Island Endemics ◽  
Molecular Phylogenetic ◽  
Limited Dispersal ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

The Caribbean island biota is characterized by high levels of endemism, the result of an interplay between colonization opportunities on islands and effective oceanic barriers among them. A relatively small percentage of the biota is represented by ‘widespread species’, presumably taxa for which oceanic barriers are ineffective. Few studies have explored in detail the genetic structure of widespread Caribbean taxa. The cobweb spider Spintharus flavidus Hentz, 1850 (Theridiidae) is one of two described Spintharus species and is unique in being widely distributed from northern N. America to Brazil and throughout the Caribbean. As a taxonomic hypothesis, Spintharus “flavidus” predicts maintenance of gene flow among Caribbean islands, a prediction that seems contradicted by known S. flavidus biology, which suggests limited dispersal ability. As part of an extensive survey of Caribbean arachnids (project CarBio), we conducted the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of S. flavidus with the primary goal of testing the ‘widespread species’ hypothesis. Our results, while limited to three molecular loci, reject the hypothesis of a single widespread species. Instead this lineage seems to represent a radiation with at least 16 species in the Caribbean region. Nearly all are short range endemics with several distinct mainland groups and others being single island endemics. While limited taxon sampling, with a single specimen from S. America, constrains what we can infer about the biogeographical history of the lineage, clear patterns still emerge. Consistent with limited overwater dispersal, we find evidence for a single colonization of the Caribbean about 30 million years ago, coinciding with the timing of the GAARLandia landbridge hypothesis. In sum, S. “flavidus” is not a single species capable of frequent overwater dispersal, but rather a 30 my old radiation of single island endemics that provides preliminary support for a complex and contested geological hypothesis.

Contredanse and Caribbean Bodies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Dance Movement ◽  
Dance Performance ◽  
Social Dance ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

This chapter examines the varied meanings attached to social dance, with particular emphasis on contredanse-derived practices in the Caribbean islands. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2005–2006, it considers how Caribbean bodies dance sovereignty in front of world powers and the ways that they affirm island and regional integrity in the nonverbal communication of dance performance. After providing an overview of the historical patterns of Caribbean set dancing and the history of the Caribbean from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the chapter turns to practices such as Cuban contradanza and tumba francesa, Puerto rican contradanza and los seises, and Dominican sarandunga. It then discusses dance movement and dance categories; King and Queen pageantry that typically accompanies quadrille practices; and Queen performance. The chapter suggests that historical contredanse forms represent important values that have influenced past and present performers.

scholarly journals Scientific travel in the Atlantic world: the French expedition to Gorée and the Antilles, 1681–1683

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS DEW
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Case History ◽  
Scientific Organization ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Caribbean Islands ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Century Science ◽  
Do So

AbstractAlthough historians have long recognized the importance of long-range scientific expeditions in both the practice and culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century science, it is less well understood how this form of scientific organization emerged and became established in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In the late seventeenth century new European scientific institutions tried to make use of globalized trade networks for their own ends, but to do so proved difficult. This paper offers a case history of one such expedition, the voyage sponsored by the French Académie royale des sciences to Gorée (in modern Senegal) and the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1681–3. The voyage of Varin, Deshayes and de Glos reveals how the process of travel itself caused problems for instruments and observers alike.

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