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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Discriminant analysis: a method of identifying foci of vector-borne diseases.

Identification of foci of vector-borne diseases does not require knowledge of exact abundances of vectors and pathogens; rather, a focus is defined by the presence, or some minimal level of abundance, of a vector and pathogen. Stepwise discriminant analysis (DA) was applied to data on free-ranging adult wood ticks (the vector) and to data on isolations of Colorado tick fever virus from small mammals. Trap stations were grouped on the basis of relative abundance of wood ticks for one set of analyses and on the presence or absence of virus for another set of analyses. Additional data consisted of easily measured environmental variables. It is concluded that DA provides a useful tool for analysis of ecosystem structure and an effective means of identifying foci of infection.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

Identifying genomic surveillance gaps in Africa for the global public health response to West Nile virus: a systematic review.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a priority pathogen that poses a high risk for public health emergencies of global concern. Although WNV is endemic to Africa, only few (n=63) whole genomic sequences are available from the continent. In this Review, we examined the status of the molecular testing and genomic sequencing of WNV across Africa and mapped its global spatiotemporal spread. WNV has been detected in 39 African countries, the Canary Islands, and Réunion Island. Although publications, including those with molecular data, originated from 24 of these countries, genomic sequences were available from only 16 countries. Our analysis identified regions with detected viral circulation but without molecular surveillance. The current literature has substantial knowledge gaps in terms of the disease burden, molecular epidemiology, and distribution of WNV in Africa. Addressing these gaps requires an integrated One Health surveillance approach, which is challenging to establish. We propose three key surveillance needs that could improve the current understanding of the WNV disease burden in Africa, to strengthen the global public health response to this vector-borne disease.

West Nile Fever↗
PubMed2026

Scalable, open-access and multidisciplinary data integration pipeline for climate-sensitive diseases.

Climate-sensitive infectious diseases pose an important challenge for human, animal and environmental health and it has been estimated that over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change. While climatic and weather conditions are important drivers of transmission of vector-borne diseases, socio-economic, behavioural, and land-use factors as well as the interactions among them impact transmission dynamics. Analysis of drivers of climate-sensitive diseases require rapid integration of interdisciplinary data to be jointly analysed with epidemiological (including genomic and clinical) data. Current tools for the integration of multiple data sources are often limited to one data type or rely on proprietary data and software. To address this gap, we develop a scalable and open-access pipeline for the integration of multiple spatio-temporal datasets that requires only the declaration of the country and temporal range and resolution of the study. The tool is locally deployable and can easily be integrated into existing climate-disease-modelling applications. We demonstrate the utility of the tool for dengue modelling in Vietnam where epidemiological data are legally required to remain local. We include a pipeline for bias correction of climate data to enhance their quality for downstream modelling tasks. The Dengue Advanced Readiness Tools-Pipeline empowers users by simplifying complex download, correction, and aggregation steps, fostering data-driven discovery of relationships between infectious diseases and their drivers in space and time, and enhancing reproducibility in research. Additional modules and datasets can be added to the existing ones to make the pipeline extendable to use cases other than the ones presented here.

automated workflows↗
PubMed2026

Genomic profiling of digestion related enzymes in Anopheles aquasalis a major coastal neotropical malaria vector.

Digestive genes are fundamental for the development and survival of mosquitoes and can serve as a target for the development of strategies for mosquito control or vector-borne disease prevention. Genes related to digestion were identified in the genome of the neotropical malaria vector Anopheles aquasalis by similarity. We used reciprocal BLAST with annotated digestion proteins for Anopheles gambiae. Orthology and evolutionary analyses were performed using MEGA with a bootstrapped phylogenetic tree constructed by the neighbor-joining method, and copy number variation was measured by the standard deviation of the average copy number in each gene family. We identified 241 genes related to digestion in An. aquasalis: 56 genes related to carbohydrate digestion, 51 genes for lipid digestion, and 134 genes for protein digestion. Phylogenetic relationships with other anophelines show that An. aquasalis genes are closely related to those of neotropical mosquitoes Anopheles darlingi and Anopheles albimanus. Orthologous gene clusters are conserved in important families of all four species. Some of these conserved genes are of interest for studies on controlling mosquito vectors, such as larvicidal toxin receptor genes, alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and maltase; important target genes for transmission-blocking vaccines, such as aminopeptidase N1 and carboxypeptidase B; and the major intestinal serine proteases, such as trypsins and chymotrypsins, which can positively or negatively affect Plasmodium development in the midgut. These data provide a better understanding of digestion-related genes in American anopheline mosquitoes and may support further fundamental and applied studies aimed at malaria control.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Aedes aegypti in Puerto Rico: environmental determinants of larval abundance and relation to dengue virus transmission.

In order to understand adquately the dynamics of vector-borne disease, one must understand how and why vector populations change over time. We describe a long-term, cooperative study of seasonal fluctuation in populations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in Puerto Rico. During each month of the first 3 years of the project, A. aegypti was found breeding in all five communities studied. Mosquito density was positively correlated with rainfall, the relationship being more marked in the dry, south-coastal part of the island. Discarded tires and animal watering pans were the two most common larval breeding sites. In general, houses in Puerto Rico harbor more potential A. aegypti breeding sites than those in other tropical locations, probably because Puerto Rico is relatively more affluent.

Aedes↗
PubMed1979

Host selection patterns of some Pakistan mosquitoes.

The host selection patterns of 18 species of Pakistan mosquitoes are described, emphasizing the presumed malaria vectors, Anopheles culicifacies, An. fluviatilis, and An. stephensi, and the probable vectors of West Nile virus, Culex pipiens fatigans and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus. All species tested, with the exception of Cx, p. fatigans, were considered to be essentially zoophilic. Few human feeds were recorded for An. annularis (0.7%), An. culicifacies (0.5%), An. fluviatilis (1.1%), An. nigerrimus (14.3%), and Cx. bitaeniorhynchus (2.8%), while Cx. p. fatigans (37.6%) commonly fed on man. No human positive feeds were recorded for An. stephensi. Temporal or spatial changes in host selection patterns were not discerned with the exception of Cx. p. fatigans, whose feeding patterns varied opportunistically with host availability. Cx. p. fatigans females collected from houses fed more commonly on man than those resting in cattle sheds or in agricultural fields. Cx. p. fatigans resting in cattle sheds during winter fed mostly on birds and bovids, changing to man and bovids during the spring and then to man and birds during summer. The relationships between these results and vector-borne disease transmission in Pakistan are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Impact of control measures on malaria transmission and general mortality.

This paper is an attempt to relate modifications observed in general and infant mortality rates with the dynamic changes in transmission induced by malaria control measures. The observations indicated relationships between the efficacy of control and a decrease in mortality. The daily parasitological inoculation rate was reduced from 0.00958 infective bites per individual before treatment to 0.00037 after treatment (a decrease of 96%). In two years, general mortality decreased from 23.9 to 13.5 deaths per 1000 population and infant mortality decreased from 157 to 93 per 1000 live births. This indirect benefit of malaria control deserves attention in a wider assessment of measures directed against vector-borne diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Biotypic and serotypic profiles of 367 Yersinia enterocolitica cultures of human and environmental origin in the United States.

Between 1972 and March 1977, 367 cultures of Yersinia enterocolitica were examined for biotypic and serotypic characteristics by Plague Branch, Vector-Borne Diseases Division, Center for Disease Control. Standard biotyping tests were performed. Serotyping antisera used contained somatic serofactors 1 through 9, 11 through 21, 24, 32, and two new types designated 'Arizona' and 'Tacoma'. The cultures examined included 68 from human illnesses; 43 from 12 species of vertebrate and invertebrate animals; 43 from raw meats, milk, or seafood; and 215 from 154 different water samples. Geographic origins of the cultures included 16 states of the USA and four provinces of Canada.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Oropouche virus: viral evolution, epidemiological trends, and challenges for control.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In recent years, OROV has emerged as a significant public health threat beyond the Amazon region. Here we review current epidemiological, virological, clinical and ecological knowledge of OROV to inform health practitioners, public health authorities and the scientific community and to facilitate the development of effective control strategies for OROV. RECENT FINDINGS: We describe the epidemiological, virological, ecological and clinical characteristics of OROV, focusing on lessons from the recent expansion, and highlighting needs for control and management of this emerging arbovirus. SUMMARY: This review aims to inform health practitioners, public health authorities and the scientific community of the recent reemergence and expansion of OROV beyond the Amazon Basin. The ecology, epidemiology, virology of OROV and clinical presentations of OROV infection are discussed, and knowledge gaps are identified.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

Genomic epidemiology of dengue virus 2 and 3 reveals repeated introductions and exportations of several lineages in Colombia.

Dengue fever, a major mosquito-borne viral disease, is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and poses a significant global health burden. Despite extensive research, the spatiotemporal dynamics of dengue virus (DENV) lineages in Colombia remain understudied. Here, we analyze 11,443 complete genome sequences from Colombia and the Americas to map the genomic epidemiology of DENV-2 and DENV-3. Phylogeographic reconstruction revealed multiple independent introductions and exportations of the DENV-2 II and III lineages, as well as the DENV-3 lineage III_C.2, underscoring Colombia's critical role as both a source and a sink of viral traffic within the Americas. Antigenic profiling demonstrated distinct clustering of emergent lineages in antigenic space, consistent with immune-escape-driven turnover. These results highlight the necessity of sustained, high-resolution genomic surveillance to guide targeted public health interventions and mitigate dengue transmission across the region.

Dengue Virus↗
PubMed2026

Metaviromic profiling of mosquito excreta using superhydrophobic collection devices expands the known RNA virome of North America.

Nearly 30% of emerging infectious disease events worldwide are transmitted by arthropod vectors, and this proportion continues to rise. Rapid and accurate detection is critical for directing vector control interventions, thereby reducing the likelihood of widespread transmission. Surveillance of infected mosquitoes can provide an early warning of impending human infection; however, conventional virus testing relies on processing large pools of mosquitoes and requires labor-intensive pre-processing. During rapidly developing epidemic or panzootic events, these delays may limit the effectiveness of public health responses. Mosquito excreta has recently emerged as a promising alternative substrate for pathogen detection. Sugar-fed mosquitoes regularly excrete gut contents, offering a rich source of nucleic acids. In this study, we developed and applied custom superhydrophobic excreta-collection funnels that efficiently aggregate excreta produced by field-collected Culex mosquitoes into attached microcentrifuge tubes. Shotgun metagenomic sequencing of this material revealed a diverse RNA virome, including both globally distributed viruses and those reported here for the first time from the Americas. Beyond virus detection, additional analyses enabled confirmation of host mosquito species and identification of trypanosomatid parasites, demonstrating the broader utility of mosquito excreta for integrated surveillance. We anticipate that methods and devices of this type will become valuable components of vector surveillance programs, particularly in remote or resource-limited settings where repeated collections are challenging. Overall, our findings highlight the potential of excreta-based monitoring to improve early detection of emerging or unknown pathogens of One Health importance, refine our understanding of mosquito virome biogeography, and facilitate the discovery of previously undescribed viruses.IMPORTANCEMany infectious diseases that affect people and animals are spread by mosquitoes and other biting insects, and the number of these outbreaks is increasing. Detecting pathogens in mosquito populations early can provide a critical warning before human cases begin, allowing health officials to act quickly. However, traditional surveillance requires collecting and processing large numbers of mosquitoes, which can be slow and labor-intensive during fast-moving outbreaks. Here we demonstrate a simpler approach: testing mosquito waste. When mosquitoes feed on sugar, they excrete material that contains genetic traces of viruses and other organisms. Using specially designed collection devices and modern genetic sequencing, we show that mosquito excreta can reveal a wide range of viruses and parasites while also identifying the mosquito species present. This method could make disease surveillance faster and more practical in remote or resource-limited settings, improving our ability to detect emerging pathogens that threaten human, animal, and environmental health.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

A new potential mosquito-borne virus: detection of Human-derived Jingmenvirus in several-species of mosquitoes from Yaoundé, Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Tick-borne Jingmenviruses are becoming an increasing arbovirus concern due to the rising number of reported infections in humans and animals, as well as their wide geographic distribution. The involvement of other hematophagous arthropods as vectors of Jingmenviruses is still unknown. METHODS: Mosquitoes were sampled in two different biotopes in Cameroon (Yaoundé and Garoua) during the rainy and the dry seasons in 2022 and 2023. Metatranscriptomics Next Generation Sequencing was conducted using Illumina technology. Viral sequences detection revealed the presence of several contigs with high sequence identity to a human-derived Jingmenvirus (HdJV) previously discovered in plasma from an individual from Yaoundé, Cameroon. A draft viral genome was constituted for each Jingmenvirus-positive samples. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic reconstructions were used to position mosquito-associated viruses within the diversity of Jingmenviruses. Statistical analyses were conducted to estimate the prevalence of infected mosquitoes and the effect of different variables (region, season, year, mosquito species) on Jingmenvirus detection. RESULTS: HdJV was identified during the dry and the rainy seasons in 4 species of mosquitoes: Aedes albopictus, Culex quinquefasciatus and Culex wansoni from Yaoundé, and Anopheles gambiae s.l. from Garoua. The overall prevalence of HdJV-infected mosquitoes was estimated to 0.90% [0.41-1.69]; and the unique variable significantly associated with HdJV detection was the sampling area: Yaoundé showed the highest prevalence (2.29% [0.95-4.68]) compared to Garoua (0.18% [0.01-0.79]). Mosquito-associated Jingmenviruses shared a high nucleotide identity (between 98.64-100% according to the segment) and clustered in the same clade in the phylogenetic analysis, that they belong to the same viral species circulating in different mosquito species. The viral genome shared between 96.4% and 98.9% nucleotide identity with a HdJV detected in the plasma of a patient suffering from febrile illness originating from the same area, suggesting the possible involvement of mosquitoes as vectors of arboviral Jingmenviruses in human infections. CONCLUSIONS: This finding provides new insights into the ecology and transmission dynamics of Jingmenviruses, highlighting mosquitoes as potential vectors, alongside ticks, in the zoonotic transmission of this virus group.

Jingmenvirus↗
PubMed2026

From spillover to systems: evidence gaps in One Health preparedness for emerging infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Latin America and the Caribbean are a global hotspot for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, yet regional One Health preparedness remains uneven and incompletely operationalized. This narrative Mini Review synthesizes evidence published mainly between 2015 and 2026 on One Health preparedness for emerging infectious diseases in the region, emphasizing how environmental disruption and climate change shape zoonotic and vector-borne spillover risk. Available regional surveys suggest broad professional familiarity with the One Health concept but limited operational implementation, with environmental health frequently identified as the least-integrated domain. We argue that spillover risk-and the failure to detect and contain spillover once it occurs-should be understood as a system-level outcome shaped by ecological disruption, socioeconomic vulnerability, surveillance capacity, and governance, rather than as an isolated biological event: deforestation, agricultural and extractive expansion-including illegal mining and logging-unplanned urbanization, and climate variability generate new human-animal-vector interfaces, while fragmented governance, uneven and poorly decentralized laboratory capacity, and limited reservoir and environmental surveillance leave these interfaces unmonitored. Environmental and climatic drivers are robustly linked to spillover, although the pathways are disease-specific rather than universal, and socioeconomic vulnerability concentrates the resulting burden in Indigenous, rural, and marginalized populations. We identify priority gaps in integrated surveillance, decentralized diagnostics, genomic capacity, reservoir ecology, governance, financing, and equity, and propose an agenda for anticipatory, climate-informed, and context-sensitive preparedness.

Latin America↗
PubMed1978

Epidemiologic investigation of Marburg virus disease, Southern Africa, 1975.

During the first 10 days of February 1975, an Australian hitchhiker contracted Marburg virus disease while traveling through Rhodesia and died; the infection was subsequently passed to two other persons, who recovered. Investigators retraced the hitchhiker's steps in March and again in June 1975 in an effort to uncover the natural reservoir of the virus and determine how it was transmitted. Serum samples were collected from humans and animals wherever the patient had come in close contact with animals or insects. Arthropods of various types were collected in June 1975 and again in February 1976 for virus isolation attempts; at no time did the patient come in direct contact with nonhuman primates of any kind, or any other animals. Indirect contact with bats, monkeys, and birds through aerosols was possible, though at some distance. Direct contact with arthropods occurred throughout the trip; on several occasions it was notably severe. We believe that during this outbreak the first Marburg virus infection occurred by vector-borne transmission from an arthropod yet to be identified, and that patients 2 and 3 acquired the disease by exposure to the oropharyngeal secretions of patients 1 and 2, respectively. Studies are underway to identify the species of arthropod involved in this transmission.

Adult↗
PubMed2026

Hemotropic mono- and coinfections in Colombian ruminants: descriptive occurrence and host-related factors associated with coinfection in cattle.

Hemotropic pathogens such as Anaplasma, Babesia, Mycoplasma, and Trypanosoma are endemic to cattle and can cause coinfections, complicating disease dynamics and control. However, the host-related factors influencing these infections under tropical conditions remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of hemotropic monoinfections and coinfections in ruminants tested for hemotropic pathogens and to identify host-related factors associated with coinfection in cattle under field conditions in Colombia. A total of 104 animals were included: 91 cattle, 10 buffaloes, and 3 goats. Among the cattle, 34 (37.4%) exhibited monoinfections, 47 (51.6%) had coinfections, and 10 tested negative. In buffaloes, seven (70%) presented monoinfections, and two (20%) presented coinfections; in goats, one had a monoinfection, and one had a coinfection, most frequently involving Mycoplasma spp. The predominant coinfection patterns were Anaplasma&#x2009;+&#x2009;Mycoplasma and Mycoplasma&#x2009;+&#x2009;Trypanosoma, particularly in Bos indicus cattle. Bivariate and multivariable analyses revealed that breed was the strongest predictor of coinfection, with animals of less common breeds showing 93% lower odds (aOR&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.07; 95% CI: 0.02-0.30; p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.001). Bos taurus individuals also tended toward lower odds of coinfection in the multivariable model, although this trend did not reach statistical significance. Our findings demonstrate a high frequency of hemotropic coinfections in cattle, particularly those involving Mycoplasma spp., and highlight the influence of host-related factors on infection dynamics. These results underscore the importance of integrating demographic and genetic information into surveillance and prevention strategies to improve the management of hemotropic infections in tropical livestock systems.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

An Introduction to the Bunyaviruses.

The bunyaviruses are an ever-expanding group of RNA viruses that have been linked to a variety of different diseases around the world. First characterized nearly a century ago, over 500 different types of bunyaviruses have been characterized thus far, with hosts ranging from mammals to plants to single-celled organisms. As many of the currently described bunyaviruses have been found to be vector-borne, with transmission being mediated by either insects or rodents, these viruses have incorporated immune-evasive molecules into their relatively small genome. As these viruses have been implicated in a number of public health threats, there is an increased interest in performing experiments that could improve our understanding of these infectious agents. Therefore, the objectives of this book are outlined in this chapter, with a variety of techniques being described for the study of a variety of different bunyaviruses.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Mycoplasma and Bartonella in cats from the tropical tourist Gili Islands, Indonesia.

Bartonella spp. and haemotropic Mycoplasma spp. are important vector-borne bacteria of veterinary and zoonotic relevance, yet information on their circulation in Indonesian island ecosystems remains limited. We investigated their occurrence and molecular diversity in 117 domestic and free-roaming cats from the Gili Islands, Indonesia, using full-length 16S rRNA nanopore metagenomics followed by targeted PCR, sequencing, phylogenetic analysis and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Bartonella DNA was detected in 18/117 (15.4%) cats and haemotropic Mycoplasma DNA in 40/117 (34.2%). Sequence analysis identified Bartonella henselae as the predominant species together with Bartonella clarridgeiae. MLST of B. henselae revealed three sequence types (ST1, ST16 and ST42), with ST1, a lineage reported in both feline and human isolates, predominating. Comparison with the PubMLST database showed significant geographical differences in the distribution of ST1 and ST42, supporting regional variation in the circulation of B. henselae lineages. Haemoplasma characterization identified Candidatus Mycoplasma haemominutum, Mycoplasma haemofelis, Candidatus Mycoplasma turicensis and a Mycoplasma feliminutum-like organism, comprising ten distinct sequence variants. Haemoplasma positivity was significantly associated with age, with adults showing higher positivity than younger animals (P < 0.001), whereas Bartonella infection was not associated with age, sex or island of origin. The detection of zoonotically relevant B. henselae lineages and the genetic diversity of feline haemoplasmas provide evidence of the circulation of vector-borne bacteria among cats in this tropical island ecosystem. These findings provide the first molecular epidemiological baseline for this region and contribute to understanding the circulation and genetic diversity of feline vector-borne pathogens in Southeast Asia.

Animals↗