scholarly journals Genetic Diversity and Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Chikungunya Infections in Mexico during the Outbreak of 2014–2016

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Eduardo D. Rodríguez-Aguilar ◽  
Jesús Martínez-Barnetche ◽  
Cesar R. González-Bonilla ◽  
Juan M. Tellez-Sosa ◽  
Rocío Argotte-Ramos ◽  
...  

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which causes Chikungunya fever. Three CHIKV genotypes have been identified: West African, East-Central-South African and Asian. In 2014, CHIKV was detected for the first time in Mexico, accumulating 13,569 confirmed cases in the following three years. Studies on the molecular diversification of CHIKV in Mexico focused on limited geographic regions or investigated only one structural gene of the virus. To describe the dynamics of this outbreak, we analyzed 309 serum samples from CHIKV acute clinical cases from 15 Mexican states. Partial NSP3, E1, and E2 genes were sequenced, mutations were identified, and their genetic variability was estimated. The evolutionary relationship with CHIKV sequences sampled globally were analyzed. Our sequences grouped with the Asian genotype within the Caribbean lineage, suggesting that the Asian was the only circulating genotype during the outbreak. Three non-synonymous mutations (E2 S248F and NSP3 A437T and L451F) were present in our sequences, which were also identified in sequences of the Caribbean lineage and in one Philippine sequence. Based on the phylogeographic analysis, the viral spread was reconstructed, suggesting that after the introduction through the Mexican southern border (Chiapas), CHIKV dispersed to neighboring states before reaching the center and north of the country through the Pacific Ocean states and Quintana Roo. This is the first viral phylogeographic reconstruction in Mexico characterizing the CHIKV outbreak across the country.

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4965 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-528
Author(s):  
MARCO CURINI-GALLETTI ◽  
ERNEST R. SCHOCKAERT

The genus Tajikacelis n. gen. is introduced for species of Archimonocelididae (Proseriata) characterized by the lack of atrial spines in the copulatory organ and by the opening of the seminal vesicles into the prostate vesicle at its ventral side. Six new species from the Pacific Ocean are ascribed to the new genus; they may be distinguished by features of the genital systems and the morphology of their copulatory stylets. T. tajikai n. sp. (type species of the new genus) and T. macrostomoides n. sp., both from eastern Australia, have a long tubular stylet. In T. macrostomoides n. sp., the stylet is more curved, bending to 180°, and has a narrower basis compared to that of T. tajikai n. sp. In T. artoisi n. sp., from Hawai’i, and T. nematoplanoides n. sp., from South Australia, the stylet is shaped as a truncated cone, with a broad, oblique proximal opening and a very short tubular part. T. artoisi n. sp. is distinct for the much stronger thickening of the dorsal side of the stylet, and for the different shape of the proximal opening. In T. acuta n. sp. and T. truncata n. sp., from West Panama, the tubular stylet is comparatively short; the two species differ for the shape of the distal opening, produced into a sharp spike in T. acuta n. sp., and square-ended in T. truncata n. sp.. Two species previously described in the genus Archimonocelis are transferred to Tajikacelis n. gen.: T. itoi Tajika, 1981 from Japan and T. keke Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from Sulawesi (Indonesia). The taxonomic position of the problematic Archimonocelis glabrodorsata Martens and Curini-Galletti, 1989 from the Caribbean is discussed. The relationships of and within the genus Tajikacelis n. gen. are discussed and compared with recent results based on DNA studies. 


Tsunami ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 151-160
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Walter Dudley

Most Europeans do not worry about tsunami waves as much as those who live around the rim of the Pacific Ocean, but they should. On All Saint’s Day, 1755, a huge earthquake struck Lisbon, Portugal, causing most stone buildings to collapse, including churches, monasteries, nunneries, and chapels, trapping the faithful inside the ruins, which votive candles quickly turned into burning pyres. Voltaire would write, “The sole consolation is that the Jesuit Inquisitors of Lisbon will have disappeared.” To add to the irony, among the few buildings safely left standing following the disaster were the lightly constructed wooden bordellos of the city. Most of Lisbon’s prostitutes but few of her nuns survived. Tsunami waves would not only kill thousands around Lisbon’s harbor but also travel south to Spain and North Africa, north to Ireland and Wales, and across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean, flooding the streets of Barbados.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Churchill

AbstractThis is the latest in a series of annual surveys in this Journal reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea, both under Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. It covers developments during 2018. The most significant developments during the year were the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, delimiting the maritime boundaries between the two States’ overlapping maritime zones in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean; the report of the Conciliation Commission concerning maritime boundary arrangements between Timor-Leste and Australia; and the findings of a dispute settlement body of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization.


1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1415-1464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Leistikow

Examination of a small collection of Oniscidea from Costa Rica revealed the presence of two species new to science (Ischioscia martinae sp.nov. and Scleropactes talamancensis sp.nov.). Further specimens from the collection of the United States National Museum were reexamined to reconsider the status of Philoscia muscorum (Scopoli, 1793) and Ischioscia variegata (Dollfus, 1893), both of which have been reported from Costa Rica. The specimens belong to two new species (Ischioscia muelleri sp.nov. and Ischioscia elongata sp.nov.). Redescriptions of Ligia baudiniana Milne Edwards, 1840 from the shores of both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean and the type material of Ischioscia variegata (Dollfus, 1893) from Venezuela are also presented.


1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Scammell

For centuries Europeans were fascinated by rumours and legends of the wealth and wonders of the Orient and by stories of the supposed existence there of realms free from all those tiresome taboos and restrictions that prevailed in the West. Long before the arrival of Vasco da Gama, renegades were serving the Mongols in Iran and Marco Polo had been in the entourage of the Grand Khan himself. The Portuguese pioneers were disconcerted to encounter in 1501 a certain Benvenuto de Abano who had spent the previous twenty-five years sailing the seas of Asia, and his contemporary, the Muslim Khoja Safar Salmâni, an erstwhile Genoese or Albanian. But this was nothing compared with the flow that followed western penetration of the maritime economy of the East, scattering European adventurers and outlaws throughout the Orient anywhere from the shores of the Persian Gulf to those of the Pacific Ocean. And very soon these hopefuls were joined by European pirates, some working from ports in their mother countries, some from the Caribbean and North America, and some from bases in the Indian Ocean, of which Madagascar was, according to taste, the most celebrated or the most notorious. Such men, frequently of remarkable skills and fearsome abilities, exercised a considerable influence on the maritime history of the East in the early modern centuries, and it is with the origins, aspirations and activities of these elusive—indeed often anonymous—but nevertheless highly significant figures that this paper is concerned.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Andrés Villate Daza ◽  
Hernando Sánchez Moreno ◽  
Luana Portz ◽  
Rogério Portantiolo Manzolli ◽  
Hernando José Bolívar-Anillo ◽  
...  

Colombia has approximately 379,954 hectares of mangrove forests distributed along the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea coasts. Such forests are experiencing the highest annual rate of loss recorded in South America and, in the last three decades, approximately 40,000 hectares have been greatly affected by natural and, especially, human impacts. This study determined, by the use of Landsat multispectral satellite images, the evolution of three mangrove forests located in the Colombian Caribbean Sea: Malloquín, Totumo, and La Virgen swamps. Mangrove forest at Mallorquín Swamp recorded a loss of 15 ha in the period of 1985–2018, associated with alterations in forest hydrology, illegal logging, urban growth, and coastal erosion. Totumo Swamp lost 301 ha in the period 1985–2018 associated with changes in hydrological conditions, illegal logging, and increased agricultural and livestock uses. La Virgen Swamp presented a loss of 31 ha in the period of 2013–2018 that was linked to the construction of a roadway, alterations of hydrological conditions, illegal logging, and soil urbanization, mainly for tourist purposes. Although Colombian legislation has made efforts to protect mangrove ecosystems, human activities are the main cause of mangrove degradation, and thus it is mandatory for the local population to understand the value of the ecosystem services provided by mangroves.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erick Núñez-Vázquez ◽  
Antonio Almazán-Becerril ◽  
David López-Cortés ◽  
Alejandra Heredia-Tapia ◽  
Francisco Hernández-Sandoval ◽  
...  

Historical records of ciguatera in Mexico date back to 1862. This review, including references and epidemiological reports, documents 464 cases during 25 events from 1984 to 2013: 240 (51.72%) in Baja California Sur, 163 (35.12%) in Quintana Roo, 45 (9.69%) in Yucatan, and 16 (3.44%) cases of Mexican tourists intoxicated in Cuba. Carnivorous fish, such as snapper (Lutjanus) and grouper (Epinephelus and Mycteroperca) in the Pacific Ocean, and great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) and snapper (Lutjanus) in the Atlantic (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea), were involved in all cases. In the Mexican Caribbean, a sub-record of ciguatera cases that occurred before 1984 exists. However, the number of intoxications has increased in recent years, and this food poisoning is poorly studied in the region. Current records suggest that ciguatera fish poisoning in humans is the second most prevalent form of seafood poisoning in Mexico, only exceeded by paralytic shellfish poisoning (505 cases, 21 fatalities in the same 34-year period). In this study, the status of ciguatera in Mexico (epidemiological and treatment), and the fish vectors are reviewed. Dinoflagellate species Gambierdiscus, Ostreopsis, and Prorocentrum are related with the reported outbreaks, marine toxins, ecological risk, and the potential toxicological impact.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Davis Reimer ◽  
Colin Foord ◽  
Yuka Irei

Shallow water zooxanthellate zoanthids are a common component of the coral reef ecosystems of the Caribbean. Despite this, their species diversity remains poorly understood. In this study, collectedPalythoa, Zoanthus, Isaurus, andTerrazoanthusspecimens from the waters of Florida were phylogenetically examined to obtain a better understanding of zoanthid species diversity in the Caribbean. Surprisingly, the results from analyses utilizing three DNA markers (mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit I, and the internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA) showed the presence of at least eleven species, of which up to four appear undescribed. Additionally, the presence of the genusTerrazoanthusin the Caribbean was confirmed for the first time. Attempts to match phylogenetic species or clades with original literature were hampered by vague and short original descriptions, and it is clear that for AtlanticPalythoaandZoanthusspecies an in-depth and multidisciplinary investigation is needed to reconcile recent phylogenetic results such as in this study with traditional taxonomy. Furthermore, most shallow water zoanthid species from Florida were observed to have close, sister-species relationships with previously investigated species in the Pacific Ocean. These results indicate that many brachycnemic zoanthid species likely had a Caribbean-Pacific distribution until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. However, due to inadvertent redescriptions, overall species diversity in these two common genera is likely much lower than literature indicates.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 517 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-67
Author(s):  
GYEONGJE JOH

The epiphytic diatoms attached to seaweeds and benthic diatom assemblages, have been collected along the Seogwipo coast in Jeju Island, South Korea. In the last three-year survey, 80 diatom taxa inhabiting warmer oceans have been found, including those in the tropical and subtropical regions such as the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the western Indian Ocean, and other warmer regions. These diatom flora shows a worldwide pattern that concentrated around the Tropic of Cancer. This survey of local areas reveals the existence of many rare or retrieved taxa that were not well known until recently. Furthermore, some of them, including Aulacodiscus affinis, Leudugeria janischii, Hyalosynedra lanceolata, Trachyneis velata var. ornata, Lyrella concilians have been reported for the first time since the first entry or haven been reported only once. Of the diatom flora described here, 48 taxa are new to South Korea and previously unrecorded in the local area.


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