Gallinippers: Mega mosquito may invade central Florida this summer

 

This photo from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences shows the size difference between the invasive gallinipper mosquito and a native species

If you hate mosquitoes now, just wait until you see the size of the ones that may be swarming this summer.

Bug experts from the University of Florida say a species of mega-mosquito called a "gallipper" could invade central Florida as flood waters from tropical storms force the larvae to hatch.
They say these critters are 20-times the size of a typical mosquito, and they pack a painful bite.

Full Story

How hacking a mosquito's heart could eradicate malaria

The bioterrorists of the insect world, mosquitoes can transmit a range of deadly diseases after a blood meal. But how do they carry dangerous pathogens like malaria and yellow fever without becoming infected themselves?

Now Julián Hillyer from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues are discovering that mosquitoes use a two-pronged trick to intercept infectious agents during their journey from their gut to their salivary glands, from where the pathogens are transmitted to other animals. When a disease passes through a mosquito's heart, it must resist the rapid-flowing bloodstream while, at the same time, immune cells surround the area and launch their attack.
In this video, you can watch a mosquito fight off E. coli. The initial view reveals the insect's peculiar heart, which mostly pumps blood in one direction, towards the head. Immune cells are triggered as the intruding pathogen passes through the organ, usually eliminating most of the disease and keeping the mosquito healthy.

This new understanding of the mosquito immune system could help develop new ways of controlling the spread of disease. "Perhaps we can find ways to augment those immune responses," says Hillyer, suggesting that the disease-filtering process could be improved to completely prevent mosquitoes from transmitting pathogens.

The full story and video and another reason you still need the famous mosquitogone.com formula

Jurasic Park for Real? Two Ancient Mosquito Species Discovered

They may contain the blood of an anchient animal and it may be a dinosaur! Holy Jurassic Park batman...

An international team of paleontologists has identified two ancient species of mosquitoes from so-called compression fossils found in the Kishenehn Basin, northwestern Montana, the United States.

Culiseta kishenehn, left, and Culiseta lemniscata (Harbach RE et al / Zootaxa)

Ancient mosquitoes are very rare and the total number of species identified is now 26.
The newly identified species, called Culiseta kishenehn and Culiseta lemniscata, lived on Earth during the Eocene epoch about 46 million years ago. They are the first compression fossils identified from the genus Culiseta. They are produced in rock that is compressed over time, often creating animal fossils that are distorted, unlike the body fossils you get with amber where the whole body is often nicely preserved.

The team was able to spot minute details that distinguish one mosquito species from another, such as wing veins from 0.5 to 1.5 mm long, to minuscule setae, the hair-like structures near the base of the wing.

But is it possible that these fossil mosquitoes from the time of the Eocene epoch could also contain blood?

“Compression fossils are generally less informative morphologically than specimens preserved in amber,” said Dr Ralph Harbach of the Natural History Museum in London, lead author of a paper reporting the new species in the journal Zootaxa. “It is probably less likely for blood to be detected in compression fossils, but it should be possible.”

Blood has already been found in fossil mosquitoes of a similar age to the new finds. A species in the genus Culex preserved in 45-15 million-year-old Dominican amber had blood that contained bird malaria parasites. Some scientists think that human malarial parasites, which are transmitted by the Anopheles mosquitoes, arose by transfer from birds to humans.

And it was in another amber fossil that the oldest fossil mosquito, Burmaculex antiquus, was found – the Burmese amber was from the mid-Cretaceous.

So, what kind of viruses might the new ancient mosquitoes have carried?

“Although 46 million years old, they look very similar to some living species of the same genus Culiseta,” Dr Harbach said. “Culiseta kishenehn bears close resemblance to the living North American Culiseta melanura, which is a vector of Eastern and Western equine encephalitis viruses (EEE and WEE).”

“These viruses quickly infect the brains of horses and cause paralysis and very often death. EEE can infect amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including humans. And there is currently no cure for the human form which is sometimes fatal,” Dr Harbach said.

“There were no horses or humans during the Eocene epoch and many living species of Culiseta feed on birds. So these ancient mosquitoes probably fed on birds too,” he said. “However, mosquitoes are basically opportunistic and will feed on other types of animals if their preferred hosts are unavailable.”

“Since some of today’s mosquitoes also feed on reptiles, could the more ancient mosquitoes have sucked from a dinosaur?” Dr Harbach said: “it’s possible. Evidence suggests mosquitoes evolved in the Jurassic Period (200-146 million years ago). If the early ancestral mosquitoes had already evolved to feed on blood, it is conceivable that they may have fed on dinosaurs.”

Why you need the famous MosquitoGone.com formula

West Nile Patient Learns to Walk Again

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK-- When Clark Curry was diagnosed with West Nile Virus this summer, he lost use of his limbs, and was confined to a wheelchair. Doctors warned Curry and his family some patients never make a full recovery.

"We just thank God," said Janis Curry, his wife, "and we're just so thankful we've come this far."

After several months in occupational therapy, Curry stood up on his own for the first time two weeks ago.

"Quite frankly, I overdid it," said Curry, laughing as he recalled the moment, "I probably did it six, or eight, or ten times the first day, wore myself out, but it was a fantastic feeling."

Since then, Curry started walking again.

"You're just incredibly elated to see that progress," he said.

Curry spends several hours each week working with his occupational therapist, Teresa Hannay, at Mercy Hospitals.

"He's so motivated to get out of that wheelchair," said Hannay, "and just be himself again"

Curry says aside from grueling therapy sessions, he also exercises on his own each day.

"Even though they may seem to be very simple, minor exercises, if you're exercising the muscle you're supposed to for a particular purpose, it works out," he explained.

As he regains his strength, Curry hopes to gain the ability to drive, make repairs around the house, and go on the daily walks he enjoyed before contracting West Nile. Although he has a long road to recovery, Curry's family says each mark of progress is a blessing.

"We didn't know from one day to the next what would happen," said Janis, "but we're just so thankful."
West Nile Patient Learns to Walk Again
Posted: Monday, November 19 2012, 09:37 PM CST

why you need the famous MosquitoGone formula

Facts of Life’ star has West Nile

FLOWER MOUND — Actress and CBS reality show “Survivor” contestant Lisa Whelchel says she’s been diagnosed with West Nile virus.

The 49-year-old former star of the “The Facts of Life” television show used Facebook and Twitter to announce her illness.

Whelchel, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, said a doctor called her Tuesday with blood test results. She says she’s “fine, just tired” and expects to take a year to fully recover.

Whelchel is competing on this year’s “Survivor” program, which was taped in the Philippines. She has not said where or when she believes she contracted the West Nile virus...

Why you need west nile prevention full story

Hints of a more virulent, mutating West Nile virus emerge

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Reuters - West Nile virus, spread by mosquitoes, can lead to inflammation of the brain, damaging its speech, language and thinking centers.

You need the mosquitogone report to protect you from the west nile virus...

By Brian Vastag,

Nov 09, 2012 02:07 AM EST

The Washington Post Published: November 8

The West Nile virus epidemic of 2012, the worst in a decade, may be notorious for yet another reason: The virus, in some cases, is attacking the brain more aggressively than in the past, raising the specter that it may have mutated into a nastier form, say two neurologists who have extensive experience dealing with the illness.

One doctor, Art Leis in Jackson, Miss., has seen the virus damaging the speech, language and thinking centers of the brain — something he has never observed before. The other, Elizabeth Angus in Detroit, has noticed brain damage in young, previously healthy patients, not just in older, sicker ones — another change from past years.

But a scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the federal agency has not seen any evidence that the virus is causing a different type of brain damage. He said doctors may be seeing more-serious cases this year because there are more cases overall. But he acknowledged that the CDC does not collect the granular data needed to quickly determine whether the virus is causing more-severe brain damage.
 

Still, Angus, who has treated West Nile patients for a decade, and Leis, who has more experience treating severe West Nile illness than perhaps any doctor in the country, both suspect the virus has changed — a view bolstered by a Texas virologist whose laboratory has found signs of genetic ­changes in virus collected from the Houston area.
“I’ve been struck this year that I’m seeing more patients where the brain dysfunction has been very much worse,” said Angus, of Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital. “It makes you wonder if something’s different, if something’s changed.”

And while the virus in the past has typically invaded the brain and spinal cord only of people who have weakened immune systems, such as the elderly and transplant or cancer patients, Angus this summer treated a severely affected woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s.

Leis said he is seeing much more severe encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — than he has in the past. “It is clearly much more neuroinvasive, neurovirulent,” he said.

Four patients Leis treated this summer had lost their ability to talk or write. Another was paralyzed on one side, as often seen in strokes, not West Nile infections. Others experienced recurring seizures.
In all, 11 of the first 12 patients Leis saw this year at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson had more severe brain damage than he had seen previously. The outlook for such patients varies, but most will face years or a lifetime of disability.

“For the first time, we have radiographic evidence, clinical evidence of the virus attacking the higher cortical areas,” said Leis, who has published 15 scientific papers describing previous West Nile patients.

Marc Fischer, a CDC epidemiologist who tracks the West Nile virus, said the agency has not noticed the ­changes described by Leis and Angus. “There’s just a lot more cases this year than anybody has seen in at least 10 years,” he said. “You’re just going to see more severe cases and probably a broader variety of manifestations.”

Full Story

Mosquitoes still at play in cold weather

Cold weather doesn’t eliminate the risk of a mosquito bite, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

An increase in mosquito-borne disease activity so far this year, prompted DHEC on Wednesday to share protective tips.

“Despite the approaching cooler weather, you still need to protect yourself from mosquito bites,” said Chris Evans, entomologist with DHEC’s Bureau of Laboratories. “Mosquitoes can be active in the fall, even after extended periods of cold weather. Bites to humans and other animals from infected mosquitoes can transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, La Crosse encephalitis virus, and eastern equine encephalitis virus, which have been found in higher numbers this year.” 

In South Carolina this year, West Nile virus has been detected in 24 birds, 5 horses and 9 mosquito samples, Evans said.

Linda Bell, interim state epidemiologist, said West Nile had been detected in 30 people in South Carolina and three people had died from the infection. Over the last five years, there were less than five cases each year, she said.

Eastern equine encephalitis, which is also transmitted by mosquito bites, has been found in one person and 15 horses this year.

“Our warm autumn weather brings many people outdoors during this time of year to garden, attend sporting events and fall festivals, and enjoy other activities,” Bell said. “It’s very important to continue protecting yourself and your family during these days of warm fall weather to avoid mosquito-borne disease.”

She recommends using insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR 3535; wearing clothing that covers skin; being particularly careful during dawn and dusk when exposure is most common and draining any areas of standing water where mosquitoes lay eggs. DIY solution to west nile virus prevention ...see the full story here

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/11/07/3157202/mosquitoes-still-at-play-in-cold.html#storylink=cpy