Mosquito News and Research

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Scientists identify specific role of RESA protein in modulating blood circulation

When the parasite responsible for malaria infects human red blood cells, it launches a 48-hour remodeling of the host cells. During the first 24 hours of this cycle, a protein called RESA undertakes the first step of renovation: enhancing the stiffness of the cell membranes.

31 Aug 2012

Mosquitoes in the U.S. can be infected with Chikungunya virus from Asia

New research from SRI International finds that mosquitoes commonly found in the United States can be infected with a disease-causing virus from Asia. The research findings are from a recent study that modeled how mosquito-borne infections can become introduced.

23 Aug 2012

Link between specific weather conditions and dengue fever outbreaks

Dengue fever, transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, affects hundreds of millions of people in around one hundred tropical countries and causes 25 000 deaths per year. In the absence of a vaccine, determining the factors that influence epidemics to predict them better is a real public health challenge. One scientific study, conducted in New Caledonia, demonstrates the essential role of the local climate in epidemic dynamics. IRD researchers and their New Caledonian colleagues analysed epidemiological and climatological data gathered in Noumea over forty years.

23 Aug 2012

Spicy solution for viral infection

Curcumin, the main compound in the spice turmeric, prevents replication of mosquito-borne Rift Valley Fever virus in infected cells, report researchers.

22 Aug 2012

World Mosquito Day marks 114 years of battle against malaria

"Each year on August 20, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) celebrates World Mosquito Day to honor the date in 1897 when British doctor Ronald Ross discovered that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between human beings," AlertNet reports.

21 Aug 2012

New birth-control strategy for mosquitoes can combat malaria

Using information about the unique mating practices of the male malaria mosquito ― which, unlike any other insect, inserts a plug to seal its sperm inside the female ― scientists are zeroing in on a birth-control drug for Anopheles mosquitoes, deadly carriers of the disease that threatens 3 billion people, has infected more than 215 million and kills 655,000 annually.

20 Aug 2012

New book on malaria tells story of Plasmodium falciparum Genome Project

Few infectious diseases can rival malaria's ability to kill and cripple. Each year the disease causes hundreds of millions of people to be sickened and more than a million - mostly African children under the age of five - die.

18 Aug 2012

CDC reports worst West Nile virus outbreak in the U.S.

This past year's mild winter and wet spring could be contributing to the worst West Nile virus outbreak since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more cases of the virus so far this year than any year. As of August 14, almost 700 cases had been reported across the nation, including 26 deaths. This year also marks the earliest reported case of West Nile virus in New Jersey.

18 Aug 2012

Curcumin shows promise in fighting devastating viruses

The popular spice turmeric packs more than just flavor - it shows promise in fighting devastating viruses, Mason researchers recently discovered.

17 Aug 2012

Clinton tours health center in Senegal's capital on first stop of 10-day Africa trip

On the first stop of a 10-day tour of Africa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stopped at the Phillipe Maguilen Senghor Health Center in Dakar, Senegal, where Awa Marie Coll-Seck, the country's Minister of Health, "explained to Secretary Clinton how these operational centers dramatically improve maternal and child health," according to a post in USAID's "IMPACTblog."

3 Aug 2012

No 'quick fix' for eradicating the malaria mosquito

The fact that the global death toll from malaria has dropped by 25 percent over the last ten years would suggest that efforts to control the malaria mosquito are succeeding. But control methods are still largely based on chemical insecticides. A risky business, according to entomologists and experts in biological pesticides from America and Wageningen.

27 Jul 2012

Health ministers from Southeast Asia asked to support U.N. in stemming spread of drug-resistant malaria in region

"Health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are being asked to support United Nations efforts to stem the spread of drug-resistant strains of malaria, especially along the borders of Cambodia and Burma," VOA News reports.

7 Jul 2012

Powerful new drug to treat malaria

A powerful new drug to treat malaria - the invention of a University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy researcher -- will help take the bite out of malaria. In the United States, a mosquito bite seems harmless, but in developing countries it means more than 655,000 deaths a year - mostly in children.

7 Jul 2012

Low rainfall and high temperatures associated with high numbers of mosquito larvae

Rainfall and temperature affect the abundance of two mosquito species linked to West Nile Virus in storm catch basins in suburban Chicago, two University of Illinois researchers report.

7 Jul 2012

Intense war against malaria outlined by two studies in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

A pair of provocative studies in the July 2012 issue of The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (AJTMH) provides a window into the intense ground war now underway against malaria.

4 Jul 2012

Cuban company's sales of larvicides to fight malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa continue despite U.N. concern, Miami Herald reports

The Cuban state-owned company Labiofam "is increasing sales of its mosquito larvicides to fight malaria in Africa, despite cautions by U.N. experts that such products have limited use and are not the most cost-effective method of attacking the disease," the Miami Herald reports.

4 Jul 2012

UTMB researchers improve existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus

University of Texas Medical Branch researchers have significantly improved an existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus, making possible the development of a more effective defense against the dangerous mosquito-borne pathogen.

28 Jun 2012

Authors propose mathematical model to study malaria transmission

Malaria affects over 200 million individuals every year and kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The disease varies greatly from region to region in the species that cause it and in the carriers that spread it. It is easily transmitted across regions through travel and migration. This results in outbreaks of the disease even in regions that are essentially malaria-free, such as the United States.

21 Jun 2012

Tips to avoid becoming a mosquito meal

Summer has barely begun but it's likely many people have already encountered one of the season's most ubiquitous pests - the mosquito. As is the case with many other insects, mosquitoes have made an early emergence after a mild winter and rainy spring. The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) warns that this might be one of the worst seasons yet, so break out the repellant.

18 Jun 2012

U.S. Africa command establishes regional task forces to combat malaria in Africa

"Two new task forces being established by U.S. Africa Command Africom have set their sights on one of the biggest killers on the continent: the mosquito," the American Forces Press Service reports.

15 Jun 2012

Mosquito News and Research

Scientists identify specific role of RESA protein in modulating blood circulation

Mosquitoes in the U.S. can be infected with Chikungunya virus from Asia

Link between specific weather conditions and dengue fever outbreaks

Spicy solution for viral infection

World Mosquito Day marks 114 years of battle against malaria

New birth-control strategy for mosquitoes can combat malaria

New book on malaria tells story of Plasmodium falciparum Genome Project

CDC reports worst West Nile virus outbreak in the U.S.

Curcumin shows promise in fighting devastating viruses

Clinton tours health center in Senegal's capital on first stop of 10-day Africa trip

No 'quick fix' for eradicating the malaria mosquito

Health ministers from Southeast Asia asked to support U.N. in stemming spread of drug-resistant malaria in region

Powerful new drug to treat malaria

Low rainfall and high temperatures associated with high numbers of mosquito larvae

Intense war against malaria outlined by two studies in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Cuban company's sales of larvicides to fight malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa continue despite U.N. concern, Miami Herald reports

UTMB researchers improve existing experimental vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus

Authors propose mathematical model to study malaria transmission

Tips to avoid becoming a mosquito meal

U.S. Africa command establishes regional task forces to combat malaria in Africa

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