scholarly journals Analysis of Salivary Glands and Saliva from Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti Infected with Chikungunya Viruses

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irma Sanchez-Vargas ◽  
Laura Harrington ◽  
William Black ◽  
Ken Olson

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a medically important mosquito-borne virus transmitted to humans by infected Aedes (Stegomyia) species. In 2013–2014, Ae. aegypti transmitted CHIKV to humans in the Caribbean and in 2005–2006, Ae. albopictus transmitted CHIKV on La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean basin). CHIKV LR2006 OPY1 from the La Réunion epidemic was associated with a mutation (E1:A226V) in the viral E1 glycoprotein that enhanced CHIKV transmission by Ae. albopictus. CHIKV R99659 from the Caribbean outbreak did not have the E1:A226V mutation. Here, we analyzed the salivary glands and saliva of Ae. albopictus strains from New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana and La Réunion after infection with each virus to determine their transmission potential. We infected the Ae. albopictus strains with blood meals containing 3–7 × 107 PFU/mL of each virus and analyzed the mosquitoes nine days later to maximize infection of their salivary glands. All four Ae. albopictus strains were highly susceptible to LR2006 OPY1 and R99659 viruses and their CHIKV disseminated infection rates (DIR) were statistically similar (p = 0.3916). The transmission efficiency rate (TER) was significantly lower for R99659 virus compared to LR2006 OPY1 virus in all Ae. albopictus strains and Ae. aegypti (Poza Rica) (p = 0.012) suggesting a salivary gland exit barrier to R99659 virus not seen with LR2006 OPY1 infections. If introduced, LR2006 OPY1 virus poses an increased risk of transmission by both Aedes species in the western hemisphere.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Michael L. Kunz ◽  
Robin O. Mills

Excavation at three Late Prehistoric Eskimo sites in arctic Alaska has revealed the presence of Venetian glass trade beads in radiocarbon-dated contexts that predate Columbus's discovery of the Western Hemisphere. The bead variety, commonly known as “Early Blue” and “Ichtucknee Plain,” has been confirmed by expert examination and comparative Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). The beads are present in sites throughout the Caribbean, the eastern coast of Central and North America, and the eastern Great Lakes region, where they are commonly found in sites dating between approximately AD 1550 and 1750, although a diminishing presence continues into the early 1800s. Beads of this variety have not previously been reported from Alaska. Ascribed to Venetian production by their precolumbian age, the beads challenge the currently accepted chronology for the development of their production methodology, availability, and presence in the Americas. In the absence of trans-Atlantic communication, the most likely route these beads traveled from Europe to northwestern Alaska is across Eurasia and over the Bering Strait. This is the first documented instance of the presence of indubitable European materials in prehistoric sites in the Western Hemisphere as the result of overland transport across the Eurasian continent.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S35-S35
Author(s):  
Kathryn Lago ◽  
Kalyani Telu ◽  
David R Tribble ◽  
Anuradha Ganesan ◽  
Anjali Kunz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background International travelers are often at risk for both influenza like illness (ILI) and malaria. Doxycycline is active against many pathogens causing ILI and is routinely used for malaria prophylaxis. We evaluated the incidence of and risk factors for ILI, and whether the choice of malaria prophylaxis was associated with ILI. Methods TravMil is a prospective observational study enrolling subjects presenting to 6 military travel clinics. We analyzed pre- and post-travel surveys from travelers to regions outside of the continental United States, Western or Northern Europe, Canada, or New Zealand between July 2010 and August 2018. ILI was defined as subjective fever associated with either a sore throat or cough. Characteristics of trip and traveler and the use of malaria prophylaxis were analyzed to determine association with development of ILI. Poisson regression models with robust error variance were used to estimate relative risk of ILI. Results A total of 3,227 travelers were enrolled: 62.1% male, median age of 39 (IQR 27, 59), median travel duration 19 days (IQR 12, 49). 32% traveled to Africa, 40% to Asia, and 27% to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central or South America. Military travel (46%) and vacation (40%) were most common reasons for travel. Twenty percent took doxycycline for malaria prophylaxis, 50% other prophylaxis (89% atovaquone–proguanil), and 30% took none. 8.7% developed ILI. Compared with those on no or other prophylaxis, doxycycline was associated with decreased risk of ILI [RR 0.65 (0.43–0.99), P = 0.046], as was military travel [RR 0.30 (0.21–0.43), P < 0.01]. Increased risk of ILI was associated with female gender [RR 1.57 (1.24–1.98), P < 0.01], travel to Asia [RR 1.37 (1.08–1.75), P = 0.01], cruises [RR 2.21 (1.73–2.83), P < 0.01], and longer duration of travel [RR 1.01 (1.00–1.01, P < 0.01]. Conclusion The use of doxycycline is associated with a decreased risk of ILI compared with taking no or other malaria prophylaxis. The reasons for this are unclear but may be related to anti-inflammatory effects, activity against bacterial respiratory pathogens, effects on disease transmission in closed populations (e.g., military deploying groups), or other unmeasured factors. With few proven strategies for decreasing ILI risk in travelers, these findings bear further investigation. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chatrapatty Bhugwant ◽  
Miloud Bessafi ◽  
Emmanuel Rivière ◽  
Jean Leveau

Author(s):  
Richard Lyman Bushman

Plantation agriculture in the western hemisphere extended from Brazil northward through the Caribbean to the northern boundary of Maryland. This geography created a line in North America noted by seventeenth-century imperial economists. The southern colonies produced crops needed in the home land making the South far more valuable to the empire than the North. Plantation agriculture stopped at the Maryland-Pennsylvania border because the climate made slavery impractical north of that line. Only farmers who produced valuable exports could afford the price of slaves. Tobacco, though it could be grown in the North, was not commercially feasible there. The growing season had to be long enough to get a crop in the ground while also planting corn for subsistence, allow the tobacco to mature, and harvest it before the first frost. Tobacco was practical within the zone of the 180-day growing season whose isotherm outlines the areas where slavery flourished. Within this zone, the ground could be worked all but a month or two in winter, giving slaves plenty to do. Cattle could also forage for themselves, reducing the need for hay. Southern farmers could devote themselves to provisions and market crops, increasing their wealth substantially compared to the North where haying occupied much of the summer. Differing agro-systems developed along a temperature gradient running from North to South with contrasting crops and labor systems attached to each.


Author(s):  
Patrick J. Kelly

In the decades before the Civil War many Southerners argued that their slaveholding region should expand territorially beyond the boundaries of the United States into Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Cuba. Instead, during the Civil War the Confederacy renounced the capture any new territory in the Americas. Historians have neglected to explain fully the South’s failure to to fulfill its prewar ambitions to expand territorially in the New World after secession. Patrick J. Kelly argues that examining the Southern rebellion from the perspective of Mexico City, Havana, London and Paris reveals the stark geopolitical realities facing the Confederate nation in the New World. Instead of dominating the New World, the Southern rebellion served as a pawn, especially to the French Emperor Napoleon III, in hemispheric affairs. Ultimately, the Confederacy proved too weak internationally to to capture any new hemispheric territory or gain the foreign recognition it sought in order to operate as a sovereign state in the family of nations. In an ironic twist, instead of insuring the future of Southern slavery, secession marked the death knell of the South’s dream of creating an empire for slavery in the Western Hemisphere.


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