The Experts below are selected from a list of 63 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Scott C. Weaver - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Serologic Evidence of Widespread Everglades Virus Activity in Dogs, Florida
    2013
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Cynda Crawford, James Dee, Ryan Miller, Jerome Freier, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in Florida and occasionally infects humans. It causes febrile disease, sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. Although previous surveys showed high seroprevalence in humans, EVEV infections may be underdiagnosed because the disease is not severe enough to warrant a clinic visit or the undifferentiated presentations complicate diagnosis. Documented EVEV activity, as recent as 1993, was limited to south Florida. Using dogs as sentinels, a serosurvey was conducted to evaluate whether EVEV circulated recently in Florida and whether EVEV’s spatial distribution parallels that of the mosquito vector, Culex cedecei. Four percent of dog sera contained neutralizing EVEV antibodies, and many seropositive animals lived farther north than both recorded EVEV activity and the principal vector. These results indicate that EVEV is widespread in Florida and may be an important, unrecognized cause of human illness. Everglades Virus (EVEV), a mosquitoborne Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex alphaVirus (Togaviridae; AlphaVirus), circulates continuously in enzootic foci in Florida. EVEV infection of humans can result in a nonspecific, flulike, febrile illness that can progress to severe neurologic disease (1,2). Human EVEV serosurveys in the 1960s and 1970s indicated that people in south Florida were frequently exposed to EVEV. In 1 survey (3),>50 % of Seminole Indians who resided north of Everglades National Park had antibody to EVEV, and 9 % of other groups living in 3 rural communities at the periphery of the park were EVEV seropositive in 1973 (4)

  • RESEARCH Experimental Everglades Virus Infection of Cotton Rats (Sigmodon hispidus)
    2013
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Slobodan Paessler, Anne-sophie Carrara, Michelle L. Haynie, Robert D. Bradley, Robert B. Tesh, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) serocomplex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes and infects humans, causing a febrile disease sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. EVEV circulates near metropolitan Miami, which indicates the potential for substantial human disease, should outbreaks arise. We characterized EVEV infection of cotton rats in South Florida, USA to validate their role in enzootic transmission. To evaluate whether the viremia induced in cotton rat populations regulates EVEV distribution, we also infected rats from a non–EVEV-endemic area. Viremia levels developed in rats from both localities that exceeded the threshold for infection of the vector. Most animals survived infection with no signs of illness, despite Virus invasion of the brain and the development of mild encephalitis. Understanding the mechanisms by which EVEV-infected cotton rats resist clinical disease may be useful in developing VEE therapeutics for equines and humans. Everglades Virus (EVEV; Togaviridae: AlphaVirus) circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in South Florida and can tangentially infect humans, causing a febrile disease with occasional neurologic signs. The most closely related Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex Viruses, enzootic subtype ID strains, are the progenitors of subtype IAB and IC strains responsible for major epidemics and epizootics (1). This relationship raises the possibility of epidemic emergence in South Florida, involving mutations in the EVEV genome, with serious public health consequences for>2 million people in metropolita

  • Serologic evidence of widespread Everglades Virus activity in dogs, Florida.
    Emerging infectious diseases, 2006
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Cynda Crawford, James Dee, Ryan S. Miller, Jerome E. Freier, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in Florida and occasionally infects humans. It causes febrile disease, sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. Although previous surveys showed high seroprevalence in humans, EVEV infections may be underdiagnosed because the disease is not severe enough to warrant a clinic visit or the undifferentiated presentations complicate diagnosis. Documented EVEV activity, as recent as 1993, was limited to south Florida. Using dogs as sentinels, a serosurvey was conducted to evaluate whether EVEV circulated recently in Florida and whether EVEV's spatial distribution parallels that of the mosquito vector, Culex cedecei. Four percent of dog sera contained neutralizing EVEV antibodies, and many seropositive animals lived farther north than both recorded EVEV activity and the principal vector. These results indicate that EVEV is widespread in Florida and may be an important, unrecognized cause of human illness.

  • susceptibility of ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus and culex nigripalpus for Everglades Virus
    American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2005
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex, is a mosquito-borne human pathogen endemic to South Florida. Field isolations of EVEV from Culex (Melanoconion) cedecei and laboratory susceptibility experiments established this species as its primary vector. However, isolates of EVEV from Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus and Culex nigripalpus, more abundant and widespread species in South Florida, suggested that they also transmit EVEV and could infect many people. We performed susceptibility experi- ments with F1 generation Oc. taeniorhynchus and Cx. nigripalpus to evaluate their permissiveness to EVEV infection. In contrast to the high degree of susceptibility of Cx .( Mel.) cedecei, Oc. taeniorhynchus and Cx. nigripalpus were relatively refractory to oral EVEV infection, indicating that they are probably not important vectors. Identification of vectors involved in enzootic EVEV transmission will assist in understanding potential changes in vector use that could accompany the emergence of epizootic or epidemic EVEV.

  • experimental Everglades Virus infection of cotton rats sigmodon hispidus
    Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2004
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Slobodan Paessler, Anne-sophie Carrara, Michelle L. Haynie, Robert D. Bradley, Robert B. Tesh, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) serocomplex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes and infects humans, causing a febrile disease sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. EVEV circulates near metropolitan Miami, which indicates the potential for substantial human disease, should outbreaks arise. We characterized EVEV infection of cotton rats in South Florida, USA to validate their role in enzootic transmission. To evaluate whether the viremia induced in cotton rat populations regulates EVEV distribution, we also infected rats from a non–EVEV-endemic area. Viremia levels developed in rats from both localities that exceeded the threshold for infection of the vector. Most animals survived infection with no signs of illness, despite Virus invasion of the brain and the development of mild encephalitis. Understanding the mechanisms by which EVEV-infected cotton rats resist clinical disease may be useful in developing VEE therapeutics for equines and humans.

Nathan D. Burkett-cadena - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Patterns of Abundance, Host Use, and Everglades Virus Infection in Culex (Melanoconion) cedecei Mosquitoes, Florida, USA
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019
    Co-Authors: Isaiah J. Hoyer, Carolina Acevedo, Keenan Wiggins, Barry W. Alto, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), subtype II within the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) Virus complex, is a mosquitoborne zoonotic pathogen endemic to south Florida, USA. EVEV infection in humans is considered rare, probably because of the sylvatic nature of the vector, the Culex (Melanoconion) cedecei mosquito. The introduction of Cx. panocossa, a tropical vector mosquito of VEE Virus subtypes that inhabits urban areas, may increase human EVEV exposure. Field studies investigating spatial and temporal patterns of abundance, host use, and EVEV infection of Cx. cedecei mosquitoes in Everglades National Park found that vector abundance was dynamic across season and region. Rodents, particularly Sigmodon hispidus rats, were primary vertebrate hosts, constituting 77%–100% of Cx. cedecei blood meals. Humans were fed upon at several locations. We detected EVEV infection in Cx. cedecei mosquitoes in lower and upper regions of Everglades National Park only during the wet season, despite an abundance of Cx. cedecei mosquitoes at other sampling times

  • Mammal decline, linked to invasive Burmese python, shifts host use of vector mosquito towards reservoir hosts of a zoonotic disease.
    Biology letters, 2017
    Co-Authors: Isaiah J. Hoyer, Carolina Acevedo, Erik M. Blosser, Anna Carels Thompson, Lawrence E. Reeves, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena
    Abstract:

    Invasive apex predators have profound impacts on natural communities, yet the consequences of these impacts on the transmission of zoonotic pathogens are unexplored. Collapse of large- and medium-sized mammal populations in the Florida Everglades has been linked to the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl. We used historic and current data to investigate potential impacts of these community effects on contact between the reservoir hosts (certain rodents) and vectors of Everglades Virus, a zoonotic mosquito-borne pathogen that circulates in southern Florida. The percentage of blood meals taken from the primary reservoir host, the hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus Say and Ord, increased dramatically (422.2%) from 1979 (14.7%) to 2016 (76.8%), while blood meals from deer, raccoons and opossums decreased by 98.2%, reflecting precipitous declines in relative abundance of these larger mammals, attributed to python predation. Overall species diversity of hosts detected in Culex cedecei blood meals from the Everglades declined by 40.2% over the same period ( H (1979) = 1.68, H (2016) = 1.01). Predictions based upon the dilution effect theory suggest that increased relative feedings upon reservoir hosts translate into increased abundance of infectious vectors, and a corresponding upsurge of Everglades Virus occurrence and risk of human exposure, although this was not tested in the current study. This work constitutes the first indication that an invasive predator can increase contact between vectors and reservoirs of a human pathogen and highlights unrecognized indirect impacts of invasive predators.

  • Unbiased Strain-Typing of ArboVirus Directly from Mosquitoes Using Nanopore Sequencing: A Field-forward Biosurveillance Protocol
    2017
    Co-Authors: Joseph A. Russell, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena, Erik M. Blosser, Brittany Campos, Jennifer Stone, Jonathan L. Jacobs
    Abstract:

    The future of infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response is trending towards smaller hand-held solutions for point-of-need pathogen detection. Although recent advances have paved the way for these technologies to include sequencing of pathogens directly from clinical samples, the ability to carry out unbiased sequencing for pathogen discovery and subtyping directly from environmental samples has yet to be demonstrated with hand-held platforms. Products such as the two3 qPCR system from Biomeme Inc., as well as the MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, have generated renewed prospects for point-of-need diagnostics and near real-time environmental testing and characterization of viral and microbial pathogens. Here, samples of Culex cedecei mosquitoes collected in Southern Florida, USA were tested for Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV), a previously-weaponized arthropod-borne RNA-Virus capable of causing acute and fatal encephalitis in animal and human hosts. A single 20-mosquito pool tested positive for VEEV by real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) on the Biomeme two3. The Virus-positive sample was then subjected to unbiased metatranscriptome sequencing on the MinION and determined to contain Everglades Virus (EVEV), a strain of VEEV transmitted exclusively by Culex cedecei in South Florida. The result was confirmed on "gold standard" thermocyclers and sequencing machines, and comparison to nanopore results is discussed. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the use of unbiased sequence-based detection and subtyping of a high-consequence biothreat pathogen directly from an environmental sample using field-forward hardware and protocols. The further development and validation of methods designed for field-based diagnostic metagenomics and pathogen discovery, such as those suitable for use in mobile "pocket laboratories", will address a growing demand for public health teams to carry out their mission where it is most urgent: at the point-of-need.

  • Culex (Melanoconion) panocossa from peninsular Florida, USA.
    Acta tropica, 2016
    Co-Authors: Erik M. Blosser, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena
    Abstract:

    Abstract Culex ( Melanoconion ) panocossa is a suspected vector of Venezuelan equine encephalitis Virus in Central America. Prior to this report, Cx . panocossa was known from Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, southern Mexico, Panama), northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela) and the Greater Antilles (Cuba and Jamaica). Larvae (n = 5) and adults (n = 4286) of Cx . panocossa were collected at two locations near Homestead, FL, which indicates substantial established populations of this probable vector species in the continental US. Since larvae of Cx. panocossa are associated with Pistia spp. (water lettuce), the distribution of this mosquito is likely to expand in Florida, where water lettuce is a major invasive plant in freshwater ecosystems. The putative establishment of Cx . panocossa in Florida is of significant concern from a public health perspective, as its proliferation in developed areas could link historically sylvatic transmission foci of Everglades Virus with populated centers such as the greater Miami Metropolitan area.

Lark L. Coffey - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Serologic Evidence of Widespread Everglades Virus Activity in Dogs, Florida
    2013
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Cynda Crawford, James Dee, Ryan Miller, Jerome Freier, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in Florida and occasionally infects humans. It causes febrile disease, sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. Although previous surveys showed high seroprevalence in humans, EVEV infections may be underdiagnosed because the disease is not severe enough to warrant a clinic visit or the undifferentiated presentations complicate diagnosis. Documented EVEV activity, as recent as 1993, was limited to south Florida. Using dogs as sentinels, a serosurvey was conducted to evaluate whether EVEV circulated recently in Florida and whether EVEV’s spatial distribution parallels that of the mosquito vector, Culex cedecei. Four percent of dog sera contained neutralizing EVEV antibodies, and many seropositive animals lived farther north than both recorded EVEV activity and the principal vector. These results indicate that EVEV is widespread in Florida and may be an important, unrecognized cause of human illness. Everglades Virus (EVEV), a mosquitoborne Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex alphaVirus (Togaviridae; AlphaVirus), circulates continuously in enzootic foci in Florida. EVEV infection of humans can result in a nonspecific, flulike, febrile illness that can progress to severe neurologic disease (1,2). Human EVEV serosurveys in the 1960s and 1970s indicated that people in south Florida were frequently exposed to EVEV. In 1 survey (3),>50 % of Seminole Indians who resided north of Everglades National Park had antibody to EVEV, and 9 % of other groups living in 3 rural communities at the periphery of the park were EVEV seropositive in 1973 (4)

  • RESEARCH Experimental Everglades Virus Infection of Cotton Rats (Sigmodon hispidus)
    2013
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Slobodan Paessler, Anne-sophie Carrara, Michelle L. Haynie, Robert D. Bradley, Robert B. Tesh, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) serocomplex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes and infects humans, causing a febrile disease sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. EVEV circulates near metropolitan Miami, which indicates the potential for substantial human disease, should outbreaks arise. We characterized EVEV infection of cotton rats in South Florida, USA to validate their role in enzootic transmission. To evaluate whether the viremia induced in cotton rat populations regulates EVEV distribution, we also infected rats from a non–EVEV-endemic area. Viremia levels developed in rats from both localities that exceeded the threshold for infection of the vector. Most animals survived infection with no signs of illness, despite Virus invasion of the brain and the development of mild encephalitis. Understanding the mechanisms by which EVEV-infected cotton rats resist clinical disease may be useful in developing VEE therapeutics for equines and humans. Everglades Virus (EVEV; Togaviridae: AlphaVirus) circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in South Florida and can tangentially infect humans, causing a febrile disease with occasional neurologic signs. The most closely related Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex Viruses, enzootic subtype ID strains, are the progenitors of subtype IAB and IC strains responsible for major epidemics and epizootics (1). This relationship raises the possibility of epidemic emergence in South Florida, involving mutations in the EVEV genome, with serious public health consequences for>2 million people in metropolita

  • Serologic evidence of widespread Everglades Virus activity in dogs, Florida.
    Emerging infectious diseases, 2006
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Cynda Crawford, James Dee, Ryan S. Miller, Jerome E. Freier, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes in Florida and occasionally infects humans. It causes febrile disease, sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. Although previous surveys showed high seroprevalence in humans, EVEV infections may be underdiagnosed because the disease is not severe enough to warrant a clinic visit or the undifferentiated presentations complicate diagnosis. Documented EVEV activity, as recent as 1993, was limited to south Florida. Using dogs as sentinels, a serosurvey was conducted to evaluate whether EVEV circulated recently in Florida and whether EVEV's spatial distribution parallels that of the mosquito vector, Culex cedecei. Four percent of dog sera contained neutralizing EVEV antibodies, and many seropositive animals lived farther north than both recorded EVEV activity and the principal vector. These results indicate that EVEV is widespread in Florida and may be an important, unrecognized cause of human illness.

  • susceptibility of ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus and culex nigripalpus for Everglades Virus
    American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2005
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) complex, is a mosquito-borne human pathogen endemic to South Florida. Field isolations of EVEV from Culex (Melanoconion) cedecei and laboratory susceptibility experiments established this species as its primary vector. However, isolates of EVEV from Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus and Culex nigripalpus, more abundant and widespread species in South Florida, suggested that they also transmit EVEV and could infect many people. We performed susceptibility experi- ments with F1 generation Oc. taeniorhynchus and Cx. nigripalpus to evaluate their permissiveness to EVEV infection. In contrast to the high degree of susceptibility of Cx .( Mel.) cedecei, Oc. taeniorhynchus and Cx. nigripalpus were relatively refractory to oral EVEV infection, indicating that they are probably not important vectors. Identification of vectors involved in enzootic EVEV transmission will assist in understanding potential changes in vector use that could accompany the emergence of epizootic or epidemic EVEV.

  • experimental Everglades Virus infection of cotton rats sigmodon hispidus
    Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2004
    Co-Authors: Lark L. Coffey, Slobodan Paessler, Anne-sophie Carrara, Michelle L. Haynie, Robert D. Bradley, Robert B. Tesh, Scott C. Weaver
    Abstract:

    Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) serocomplex, circulates among rodents and vector mosquitoes and infects humans, causing a febrile disease sometimes accompanied by neurologic manifestations. EVEV circulates near metropolitan Miami, which indicates the potential for substantial human disease, should outbreaks arise. We characterized EVEV infection of cotton rats in South Florida, USA to validate their role in enzootic transmission. To evaluate whether the viremia induced in cotton rat populations regulates EVEV distribution, we also infected rats from a non–EVEV-endemic area. Viremia levels developed in rats from both localities that exceeded the threshold for infection of the vector. Most animals survived infection with no signs of illness, despite Virus invasion of the brain and the development of mild encephalitis. Understanding the mechanisms by which EVEV-infected cotton rats resist clinical disease may be useful in developing VEE therapeutics for equines and humans.

Erik M. Blosser - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Unbiased Strain-Typing of ArboVirus Directly from Mosquitoes Using Nanopore Sequencing: A Field-forward Biosurveillance Protocol
    Nature Publishing Group, 2018
    Co-Authors: Joseph A. Russell, Erik M. Blosser, Brittany Campos, Jennifer Stone, Nathan Burkett-cadena, Jonathan L. Jacobs
    Abstract:

    Abstract The future of infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response is trending towards smaller hand-held solutions for point-of-need pathogen detection. Here, samples of Culex cedecei mosquitoes collected in Southern Florida, USA were tested for Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV), a previously-weaponized arthropod-borne RNA-Virus capable of causing acute and fatal encephalitis in animal and human hosts. A single 20-mosquito pool tested positive for VEEV by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) on the Biomeme two3. The Virus-positive sample was subjected to unbiased metatranscriptome sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore MinION and shown to contain Everglades Virus (EVEV), an alphaVirus in the VEEV serocomplex. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the use of unbiased sequence-based detection and subtyping of a high-consequence biothreat pathogen directly from an environmental sample using field-forward protocols. The development and validation of methods designed for field-based diagnostic metagenomics and pathogen discovery, such as those suitable for use in mobile “pocket laboratories”, will address a growing demand for public health teams to carry out their mission where it is most urgent: at the point-of-need

  • Mammal decline, linked to invasive Burmese python, shifts host use of vector mosquito towards reservoir hosts of a zoonotic disease.
    Biology letters, 2017
    Co-Authors: Isaiah J. Hoyer, Carolina Acevedo, Erik M. Blosser, Anna Carels Thompson, Lawrence E. Reeves, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena
    Abstract:

    Invasive apex predators have profound impacts on natural communities, yet the consequences of these impacts on the transmission of zoonotic pathogens are unexplored. Collapse of large- and medium-sized mammal populations in the Florida Everglades has been linked to the invasive Burmese python, Python bivittatus Kuhl. We used historic and current data to investigate potential impacts of these community effects on contact between the reservoir hosts (certain rodents) and vectors of Everglades Virus, a zoonotic mosquito-borne pathogen that circulates in southern Florida. The percentage of blood meals taken from the primary reservoir host, the hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus Say and Ord, increased dramatically (422.2%) from 1979 (14.7%) to 2016 (76.8%), while blood meals from deer, raccoons and opossums decreased by 98.2%, reflecting precipitous declines in relative abundance of these larger mammals, attributed to python predation. Overall species diversity of hosts detected in Culex cedecei blood meals from the Everglades declined by 40.2% over the same period ( H (1979) = 1.68, H (2016) = 1.01). Predictions based upon the dilution effect theory suggest that increased relative feedings upon reservoir hosts translate into increased abundance of infectious vectors, and a corresponding upsurge of Everglades Virus occurrence and risk of human exposure, although this was not tested in the current study. This work constitutes the first indication that an invasive predator can increase contact between vectors and reservoirs of a human pathogen and highlights unrecognized indirect impacts of invasive predators.

  • Unbiased Strain-Typing of ArboVirus Directly from Mosquitoes Using Nanopore Sequencing: A Field-forward Biosurveillance Protocol
    2017
    Co-Authors: Joseph A. Russell, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena, Erik M. Blosser, Brittany Campos, Jennifer Stone, Jonathan L. Jacobs
    Abstract:

    The future of infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response is trending towards smaller hand-held solutions for point-of-need pathogen detection. Although recent advances have paved the way for these technologies to include sequencing of pathogens directly from clinical samples, the ability to carry out unbiased sequencing for pathogen discovery and subtyping directly from environmental samples has yet to be demonstrated with hand-held platforms. Products such as the two3 qPCR system from Biomeme Inc., as well as the MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, have generated renewed prospects for point-of-need diagnostics and near real-time environmental testing and characterization of viral and microbial pathogens. Here, samples of Culex cedecei mosquitoes collected in Southern Florida, USA were tested for Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV), a previously-weaponized arthropod-borne RNA-Virus capable of causing acute and fatal encephalitis in animal and human hosts. A single 20-mosquito pool tested positive for VEEV by real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) on the Biomeme two3. The Virus-positive sample was then subjected to unbiased metatranscriptome sequencing on the MinION and determined to contain Everglades Virus (EVEV), a strain of VEEV transmitted exclusively by Culex cedecei in South Florida. The result was confirmed on "gold standard" thermocyclers and sequencing machines, and comparison to nanopore results is discussed. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the use of unbiased sequence-based detection and subtyping of a high-consequence biothreat pathogen directly from an environmental sample using field-forward hardware and protocols. The further development and validation of methods designed for field-based diagnostic metagenomics and pathogen discovery, such as those suitable for use in mobile "pocket laboratories", will address a growing demand for public health teams to carry out their mission where it is most urgent: at the point-of-need.

  • Culex (Melanoconion) panocossa from peninsular Florida, USA.
    Acta tropica, 2016
    Co-Authors: Erik M. Blosser, Nathan D. Burkett-cadena
    Abstract:

    Abstract Culex ( Melanoconion ) panocossa is a suspected vector of Venezuelan equine encephalitis Virus in Central America. Prior to this report, Cx . panocossa was known from Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, southern Mexico, Panama), northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela) and the Greater Antilles (Cuba and Jamaica). Larvae (n = 5) and adults (n = 4286) of Cx . panocossa were collected at two locations near Homestead, FL, which indicates substantial established populations of this probable vector species in the continental US. Since larvae of Cx. panocossa are associated with Pistia spp. (water lettuce), the distribution of this mosquito is likely to expand in Florida, where water lettuce is a major invasive plant in freshwater ecosystems. The putative establishment of Cx . panocossa in Florida is of significant concern from a public health perspective, as its proliferation in developed areas could link historically sylvatic transmission foci of Everglades Virus with populated centers such as the greater Miami Metropolitan area.

Namrita Lall - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • 1 Natural Products as Leads to Potential Mosquitocides
    2016
    Co-Authors: Navneet Kishore, Namrita Lall, Bhuwan B Mishra, Vyasji Tripathi, Vinod K. Tiwari, Prof Namrita Lall
    Abstract:

    Mosquitoes are the crucial vectors for a number of mosquito-borne infectious diseases i.e. dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, malaria, Rift Valley fever, elephantiasis, Japanese Encephalitis, and Murray Valley encephalitis etc. Besides, they also transmit numerous arboViruses (arthropod-borne Viruses) for example West Nile Virus (WNV), Saint Louis encephalitis Virus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis Virus (EEE), Everglades Virus (EVEV), Highlands J (HJ) Virus, and La Crosse Encephalitis Virus. The emergence of widespread insecticide resistance and the potential environmental issues associated with some synthetic insecticides (such as DDT) has indicated that additional approaches to control the proliferation of mosquito population would be an urgent priority research. The present review highlights some natural product mosquitocides that are target-specific, biodegradable, environmentally safe, and botanicals in origin

  • Natural products as leads to potential mosquitocides
    Phytochemistry Reviews, 2014
    Co-Authors: Navneet Kishore, Bhuwan B Mishra, Vyasji Tripathi, Vinod K. Tiwari, Namrita Lall
    Abstract:

    Mosquitoes are the crucial vectors for a number of mosquito-borne infectious diseases i.e. dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, malaria, Rift Valley fever, elephantiasis, Japanese Encephalitis, and Murray Valley encephalitis etc. Besides, they also transmit numerous arboViruses (arthropod-borne Viruses) for example West Nile Virus, Saint Louis encephalitis Virus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis Virus, Everglades Virus, Highlands J Virus, and La Crosse Encephalitis Virus. The emergence of widespread insecticide resistance and the potential environmental issues associated with some synthetic insecticides (such as DDT) has indicated that additional approaches to control the proliferation of mosquito population would be an urgent priority research. The present review highlights some natural product mosquitocides that are target-specific, biodegradable, environmentally safe, and botanicals in origin.