Thirty-six isolations of eastern equine encephalitis virus were obtained from 8 species of mosquitoes collected from 5 September through 18 October 1996 during an epizootic in southeastern Connecticut. These included Culiseta melanura (Coquillett) (19 isolates), Culex pipiens L. (8), Culiseta morsitans (Theobald) (3), Aedes sollicitans (Walker) (2), Aedes cantator (Coquillett) (1), Aedes trivittatus (Coquillett) (1), Aedes vexans (Meigen) (1), and Coquillettidia perturbans (Walker) (1). Isolations from Ae. cantator and Ae. trivittaus are new to North American records, and those from Ae. cantator and Ae. sollicitans represent the first infections of human-biting, salt-marsh mosquitoes with eastern equine encephalitis virus in Connecticut. With one exception, eastern equine encephalitis-infected Cs. melanura were found at all sites where eastern equine encephalitis virus was isolated. The large number of eastern equine encephalitis isolations from Cs. melanura and the collection of infected mosquitoes in residential woodlots and coastal salt marshes away from traditional red maple or white cedar swamp habitats, reaffirm the importance of local populations of this mosquito for viral amplification and dispersal from swamp foci. Highlands J virus was more widespread geographically, but fewer isolations of this virus were made from fewer species of mosquitoes. These included Cs. melanura (8 isolates), Cx. pipiens (5), Ae. vexans (3), Aedes canadensis (Theobald) (1), Ae. cantator (1) and Cs. morsitans (1). No human or horse cases of eastern equine encephalitis were reported, although this represents the largest number of isolations for eastern equine encephalitis ever recovered from field-collected mosquitoes in Connecticut.
Mosquitoes were collected for 12 consecutive months beginning June 2016, from 11 locations in the Florida Everglades, Collier County, and tested for viruses by isolation in Vero cells and subsequent identification. One species complex and 31 species of mosquitoes were identified from 668,809 specimens. Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus comprised 72.2% of the collection. Other notable species were Anopheles crucians complex, Culex nigripalpus, Cx. erraticus, and Cx. cedecei. Seven species of virus were identified from 110 isolations: Everglades, Gumbo Limbo, Mahogany Hammock, Pahayokee, Shark River, Tensaw, and West Nile viruses. Everglades, West Nile, Tensaw, and Mahogany Hammock viruses were most frequently isolated. Largest numbers of viruses were identified from Cx. cedecei, Cx. nigripalpus, and An. crucians complex. Five species of virus were isolated from Cx. cedecei. Viruses were isolated from mangrove, cypress swamp, hardwood hammock, and sawgrass habitats. West Nile virus was isolated August through October when Cx. nigripalpus was most abundant. Everglades virus was the most frequently isolated virus from nine species of mosquitoes collected from June through August. Tensaw virus was isolated primarily from Anopheles species. Isolations were made in July, August, January, February, and April, suggesting that this virus may be present in host-seeking mosquitoes throughout the year. Mahogany Hammock, Shark River, Gumbo Limbo, and Pahayokee viruses were isolated primarily from Cx. cedecei from June through December. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to document that seven pools of Cx. cedecei were infected with two arboviruses. As communities expand into the Everglades, more humans will become exposed to arboviruses.
The object of my paper is to set forth some of the recent contributions made by the U. S. Public Health Service to our knowledge of the cause and control of communicable diseases. The great Pasteur in a prophetic moment declared that "it is in the power of man to cause all parasitic diseases to disappear from the world." While his prophecy, in the glow of his epoch-making discoveries, may have seemed to him possible of early and perhaps easy fulfilment, we now know in the light of our greater knowledge of this class of diseases that the fulfilment still lies a long way into the future. Nevertheless, there have been made, in recent years, great advances in our knowledge of the cause, means of transmission and control of communicable diseases, and I shall set forth as briefly as possible in what manner the Public Health Service has helped in
Fundamental to maintaining a healthy animal environment in a warm confinement building is continuous air exchange at the rate of 4 changes per hour for removal of aerosol contaminants and moisture. Maximum summer rate should be 30 changes or more. A correctly designed fresh air intake system is mandatory. Proper insulation is essential; walls R=15, flat ceiling R=23. Supplemental heat is necessary in calf barns to maintain desired temperature at minimum exhaust rate.
Epidemics and epizootics of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) occur sporadically in temperate regions where transmission is seasonal from late summer to early fall. These outbreaks may derive from virus that overwinters locally or perhaps results from reintroduction of virus from other sites. To evaluate these possibilities, we compared the phylogenetic relationships of EEEV isolates obtained from mosquitoes collected during statewide arbovirus surveillance in Connecticut, in addition to isolates from concurrent outbreaks in southern New Hampshire and upstate New York. In Connecticut, viral isolates grouped into temporally discrete clades by year of isolation or over 2 years of sampling. Two or more clades arose in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2006, possibly the result of separate introduction events into the state, whereas viruses from upstate New York and New Hampshire segregated into single clades that persisted for 2 or more years. New Hampshire viruses shared recent common ancestry to those isolated in Connecticut suggesting viral dispersal among these regions. These results provide additional evidence for independent episodes of EEEV overwintering in northern foci.
At the IV International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis, a workshop was held to identify the unique development of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in its established and suspected arthropod vectors. The following is a summary of the panel's discussions of research aspects concerning relationship(s) of this borrelia to its vectors, and the mode(s) of its transmission to animal hosts.
