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☆ Oldest mosquito fossil comes with a bloodsucking surprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dany Azar/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are killed annually by malaria and other diseases spread through the bite of mosquitoes, insects that date back to the age of dinosaurs. To their surprise, the male mosquitoes possessed elongated piercing-sucking mouthparts seen now only in females. Some flying insects - tsetse flies, for instance - have hematophagous males. "In all hematophagous insects, we believe that hematophagy was a shift from plant liquid sucking to bloodsucking," Azar said. The researchers said while these are the oldest fossils, mosquitoes probably originated millions of years earlier.

Persons: Dany Azar, Handout, " Azar, Azar, André Nel, hematophagy, Nel, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Chinese Academy of Sciences ' Nanjing Institute of Geology, Lebanese University, National Museum of, World Health Organization, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Hammana, Paris

[1/2] Members of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations hold placards during a protest demanding an end to fossil fuels at COP28 World Climate Summit, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 3, 2023. Climate-related impacts "have become one of the greatest threats to human health in the 21st century", COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber said in a statement. The World Bank on Sunday launched a new Climate and Health program to explore possible interventions and public health solutions for developing countries. "We have new tools at the lab level that decimate mosquito populations," said Gates, whose foundation supports public health research and projects for the developing world. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also spoke on Sunday at COP28, urging reform to the world's insurance system as another key requirement to keep people safe.

Persons: Amr Alfiky, Sultan Ahmed Al, Jaber, COP28, Joseph Vipond, Storm Daniel, Bill Gates, Gates, Hillary Clinton, Clinton, Gloria Dickie, Elizabeth Piper, Alexander Cornwell, Simon Jessop, Kate Abnett, William James, Katy Daigle, Jan Harvey Organizations: International Federation of Medical, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, Physicians, World Health Organization, Bank, Sunday, Health, World Bank, Microsoft, Former U.S, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Dubai, United Arab, Alberta, Canada, Western, Libya, Pakistan, COP28

☆ An island vacation with no mosquito bites – and no chemicals, either
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Regan Stephens | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Soneva Fushi, a resort on the private Kunfunadhoo Island in the Maldives, has spent years working to eradicate these pests. Soneva has partnered with the Germany-based company Biogents, which has developed mosquito traps that rely on environmentally friendly attractants. A Biogents-created mosquito trap at Soneva Fushi Courtesy Soneva FushiWhat’s more, these techniques are typically only useful for eliminating adult mosquitoes. An overwater bungalow at Soneva Fushi Sandro Bruecklmeier/Courtesy Soneva FushiThe pest-combatting program has been a success, according to Soneva. The resort chain has gifted mosquito traps to Parliament in Malé, the country’s capital, and trained staffers on how to use them.

Persons: Soneva, “, ”, Arnfinn Oines, Oines, Fushi Sandro Bruecklmeier, Fushi, Sonu, Eva Shivdasani, Soneva Jani Organizations: CNN Locations: Maldives, Germany, GAT, Kunfunadhoo, Malé, Medhufaru, Noonu

The request for documents and communications was made Thursday by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, now controlled by DeSantis appointees. The district wants all Disney communications about DeSantis, as well as communications dealing with laws passed by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature that switched control of the district from Disney supporters to the governors’ appointees and nullified deals the company made with the Disney-controlled district before the state takeover. Before control of the district changed hands from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting control over design and construction at Disney World to the company. The new DeSantis appointees claimed the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers, and the district sued the company in state court to have the contracts voided. Political Cartoons View All 1253 ImagesDisney has filed counterclaims which include asking the state court to declare the agreements valid and enforceable.

Persons: Ron DeSantis ’, “, ”, DeSantis, Mike Schneider Organizations: —, — Florida Gov, Disney, Walt Disney World, Central, Republican, Florida Legislature, The Central, Improvement Locations: ORLANDO, Fla, — Florida, Central Florida, Florida, The Central Florida, Tallahassee

The death toll from Bangladesh's outbreak in 2023 is 1,476 as of Nov. 12, with 291,832 infected, official data showed. "These seasonal pattern changes are creating the ideal situation for breeding of Aedes mosquito. Dengue is common in South Asia during the June-to-September monsoon season as the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads the disease, thrives in stagnant water. "This year we have seen different symptoms for dengue fever," physician Janesar Rahat Faysal told Reuters. "I had to deal with two dengue patients, my sister and my niece.

Persons: Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Kabirul Bashar, Bashar, Janesar Rahat Faysal, Sirazus Salekin Chowdhury, Ruma Paul, Sudipto Ganguly, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Mugda Medical College and Hospital, REUTERS, Rights DHAKA, Hospitals, Jahangirnagar University, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Dhaka, Bangladesh, South Asia

☆ Parasitic worms highjack their hosts' free will, and scientists finally think they know how
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Emily Hein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Horsehair worms can control a host's brain and steer it to water, where it drowns. These parasitic worms, which resemble dark and stringy horse hair, take control of their host's brain and drive it to suicide. Hairworms' magic copy-cat trickHairworms need water to reproduce, so when they're ready they force their host to water, where ultimately the host drowns. Horsehair worms make their hosts more active in the middle of the day , when it's easier to find light reflecting off water. So the Chordodes worms can only control mantises and can't puppeteer other insects or mammals, according to the study.

Persons: what's, —, they're, it's, hairworms, Tappei Mishina, Hairworms, Rather, Mishina Organizations: Service, University of California's, Pest Management

☆ Mexico's Acapulco Hit by Garbage Pile-Up After Deadly Hurricane
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

The government has sent in thousands of soldiers to help clean up Acapulco, but residents say rubbish has engulfed some areas so quickly that even traffic is being held up. Mexico's Civil Protection authority did not reply to a request for comment, but the government said getting Acapulco cleared up is a top priority. When questioned about the garbage this week, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said authorities are fumigating the city to prevent disease, and would deal with the problem. If not, he said, conditions could be ripe for yellow fever mosquitoes. "When you've got large numbers of yellow fever mosquitoes, dengue outbreaks are only a matter of time."

Persons: Troy Merida, Hurricane Otis, Rosa Pacheco, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Otis, Alejandro Macias, you've, Dave Graham, Bill Berkrot Locations: Troy Merida ACAPULCO, Mexico, Acapulco, Hurricane, La Mira, Mexican

☆ Mexico's Acapulco hit by garbage pile-up after deadly hurricane
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Troy Merida | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

People protest against what they say is the lack of government help, in the aftermath of Hurricane Otis, in Acapulco, Mexico, November 5, 2023. The government has sent in thousands of soldiers to help clean up Acapulco, but residents say rubbish has engulfed some areas so quickly that even traffic is being held up. Mexico's Civil Protection authority did not reply to a request for comment, but the government said getting Acapulco cleared up is a top priority. When questioned about the garbage this week, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said authorities are fumigating the city to prevent disease, and would deal with the problem. "When you've got large numbers of yellow fever mosquitoes, dengue outbreaks are only a matter of time."

Persons: Hurricane Otis, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Rosa Pacheco, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Otis, Alejandro Macias, you've, Troy Merida, Dave Graham, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Hurricane, Acapulco, Mexico, Rights ACAPULCO, La Mira, Mexican

Here are the meanings of the 10 hardest words that have also been used in New York Times articles. Working with future Confederate Gen. Edward Porter Alexander, Myer developed the Army’s “wigwag” flag system. (June 24, 2019)10. atilt — askew:Think compression tops patterned à la one-shouldered tanks and sweatpants chopped up and wrapped into lappa-like long shorts. And the star of the Liberian flag strategically placed throughout, though slightly atilt, as though being blown sideways in a sprinter’s wake. — Clean Energy, Cherished Waters and a Sacred California Rock Caught in the Middle (Oct. 24, 2023)The list of the week’s easiest words:

Persons: callaloo, bok choy, Rose Nzada, Ned Rorem, wigwag —, Edward Porter Alexander, Myer, libidinal, efflorescence, John Turturro, venule, —, tailcoat, They’re, cloaca, atilt — askew, — Telfar Clemens, Waters Organizations: New York Times, Community, Confederate, Liberian, Clean Energy Locations: New, West, Cameroon, Bronx, Central, Northern, Southern California, Gaviota, California

☆ Mosquitoes are driving the ‘akikiki’ to extinction. With only 5 birds left in the wild, scientists are racing to save the species
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

This summer, the team successfully rescued 10 eggs that were placed in a portable incubator and brought safely back to the Kauaʻi Bird Conservation Center. The goal is that as soon as the threat of avian malaria is eradicated, the birds can be released back into their native habitat. Eradicating mosquitoesThe looming challenge is how to eradicate avian malaria – which not only threatens the ‘akikiki but also other endangered forest birds. In June, the US government committed nearly $16 million as part of an initiative to prevent the imminent extinction of Hawaiian forest birds. The process could help to reduce the likelihood of forest birds being affected by avian malaria, which is only carried by female mosquitoes.

Persons: ”, Hannah Bailey, Bailey, we’ll, “ Organizations: CNN, state’s Department of Land, Resources, Conservation Program, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Department of Land, Bird Conservation, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Hawaii’s Department of Land Locations: Hawaii, Kauaʻi, Maui, San

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Two people in Southern California have come down with dengue fever without traveling outside the United States, where the mosquito-borne illness is rare, health officials said. A Pasadena resident was confirmed to have dengue last month but is recovering, officials said. “This is the first confirmed case of dengue in California not associated with travel and is instead an extremely rare case of local transmission in the continental United States,” the Pasadena Public Health Department announced. On Wednesday, Long Beach officials announced another domestically contracted dengue case and said that person has recovered. The new California cases were not part of that count.

Organizations: Pasadena Public Health Department, Long Beach, U.S . Centers for Disease Control Locations: Calif, Southern California, United States, Pasadena, California, U.S, Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas

☆ Dispossessed Kenyans demand compensation ahead of King Charles' visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Aaron Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Before Elizabeth could make it to Lake Victoria, word came that her father, King George VI, had died. More than 70 years later, Elizabeth's son, King Charles, will visit Kenya this week on a state visit. Buckingham Palace has said Charles' visit, which begins on Tuesday, will acknowledge "painful aspects of the UK and Kenya's shared history". The colonial administration took hundreds of square kilometres of land that communities in western Kenya had lived on for generations and handed it to British settlers. The British government has not been receptive in the past to requests by the Kipsigis and Talai to discuss compensation.

Persons: Britain's King Charles ', Camilla's, King Charles, Princess Elizabeth, Kibore Cheruiyot Ngasura, Elizabeth, King George VI, Elizabeth's, Ngasura, Charles, Kenya's, Joel Kimetto, “, Talai, Aaron Ross, Michael Holden, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, Kenyan, British, Foreign, Commonwealth, Development Office, Thomson Locations: Britain's, Kenya, Tugunon, Kericho County, KERICHO, Lake Victoria, Gwassi, London, Buckingham, British, Kericho, Nairobi, Mombasa

☆ Dengue fever kills hundreds in Burkina Faso as cases spike
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso's health ministry has declared a dengue fever epidemic amid the deadliest outbreak in years in which more than 200 people have died and new cases are rising sharply. Lack of treatment or misdiagnosis, common in poverty-stricken countries such as Burkina Faso where healthcare is spotty, increase the chance of death. Burkina Faso's outbreak dwarfs other African outbreaks in recent years. According to figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, dengue killed 18 people in Burkina Faso in 2017 and 15 in 2016. The health ministry said that it was providing free rapid diagnostic tests and had organised spraying of insecticide in public places to counter the spread.

Persons: Bobo Dioulasso, Anait Miridzhanian, Edward McAllister, Alex Richardson Organizations: World Health Organization, Africa, for Disease Control, Thomson Locations: OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina, Ouagadougou, Africa, Burkina Faso

☆ A tropical parasite, passed through the bite of a sand fly, is causing skin infections in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sand flies are tiny tan flies — about the quarter of the size of a mosquito — that live in warm, wet, rural and forested areas. These patients all had leishmaniasis skin infections, which start with a small bump that erupts into ulcerous sores days to weeks after a sand fly bite. Like other types of insects that are finding new habitats as the climate warms, sand flies have been expanding their range in recent years. It’s not clear whether sand flies in all these states have transmitted infections to humans, however. When sand flies bite the infected rats, they can pick up the parasite and then pass it to humans.

Persons: you’ve, ”, Mary Kamb, Kamb, ” Kamb, leishmaniasis, Muhammed Abdullah, Luiz Oliveira, “ It’s, ” Oliveira, It’s, Pedro Cecilio, Gideon Wasserberg, Wasserberg, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, there’s, permethrin Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, American Society of Tropical Medicine, Hygiene, Anadolu Agency, Getty, CDC, National Institutes of Health, World Health Organization, NIH, University of North, CNN Health, US Food and Drug Administration Locations: Atlanta, United States, Syria, Texas, Oklahoma, U.S, Delaware , New Jersey , Ohio, Maryland, Chicago, Puerto Rico, Virgin, mexicana, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

[1/2] Mosquitoes are seen on stagnant water on the roadside during countrywide dengue infection, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd FollowLONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Dengue fever will become a major threat in the southern United States, southern Europe and new parts of Africa this decade, the WHO's chief scientist said, as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread. Many cases go unrecorded, but in 2022 4.2 million cases were reported worldwide and public health officials have warned that near-record levels of transmission are expected this year. Qdenga is also approved by the EU regulator, but Takeda withdrew its application in the United States earlier this year, citing data collection issues. Dengue is spread by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which behave differently to the malaria-carrying kind.

Persons: Mohammad Ponir Hossain, ” Jeremy Farrar, ” Farrar, Farrar, ”, “, Takeda, Jennifer Rigby, Michele Gershberg, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Takeda Pharmaceutical, World Health Organization, Reuters, Wellcome, WHO, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Thomson Locations: Dhaka, Bangladesh, United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Vietnam, Saharan Africa, EU

☆ Dengue Will 'Take Off' in Southern Europe, US, Africa This Decade, WHO Scientist Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Jennifer RigbyLONDON (Reuters) - Dengue fever will become a major threat in the southern United States, southern Europe and new parts of Africa this decade, the WHO's chief scientist said, as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread. Many cases go unrecorded, but in 2022 4.2 million cases were reported worldwide and public health officials have warned that near-record levels of transmission are expected this year. Earlier this week, the WHO recommended Takeda Pharmaceuticals' Qdenga vaccine for children aged 6 to 16 in areas where the infection is a significant public health problem. Qdenga is also approved by the EU regulator, but Takeda withdrew its application in the United States earlier this year, citing data collection issues. Dengue is spread by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which behave differently to the malaria-carrying kind.

Persons: Jennifer Rigby LONDON, ” Jeremy Farrar, ” Farrar, Farrar, ”, “, Takeda, Jennifer Rigby, Michele Gershberg, Sharon Singleton Organizations: World Health Organization, Reuters, Wellcome, WHO, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S . Food, Drug Administration Locations: United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Saharan Africa, EU

☆ Bangladesh dengue: More than 1,000 people killed in country's worst outbreak on record
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Fatalities from the outbreak are almost four times higher than last year, when 281 people died. In September alone, there were more than 79,600 reported cases and 396 deaths, according to Bangladesh health authorities. Last year, dengue cases only peaked in October with most deaths recorded in November. The global number of dengue cases has already increased eight-fold in the past two decades, according to WHO. This year, dengue has hit South America severely with Peru battling its worst outbreak on record.

Persons: Munir Uz Zaman, Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “, ”, Abdi Mahamud Organizations: CNN, Health Services, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Getty, World Health Organization, WHO, Dhaka –, UN, South America Locations: Bangladesh, Dhaka, AFP, Peru, Florida, Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Africa, Chad

☆ Bangladesh dengue deaths top 1,000 in worst outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Ruma Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A nurse provides treatment to a dengue-infected patient at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsDHAKA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The death toll from Bangladesh's worst dengue outbreak on record has topped 1,000 this year, official data showed, with hospitals struggling to make space for patients as the disease spreads rapidly in the densely-populated country. The current death toll is nearly four times more than the whole of last year, when Bangladesh recorded 281 dengue-related deaths. However, a lack of proper prevention measures has allowed the dengue-carrying mosquito to spread all over Bangladesh, said Kabirul Bashar, an entomologist and zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University. “From 2000 to 2018, dengue is only happening in Dhaka city, but in 2019 it is transferred into different cities.

Persons: Mohammad Ponir Hossain, “, …, ” Sanwar Hossain, Kabirul Bashar, ”, Abdullah, Ruma Paul, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Hospital, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Jahangirnagar University, “, Thomson Locations: Dhaka, Bangladesh, Rights DHAKA, Mugda, South Asia

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization authorized a second malaria vaccine on Monday, a decision that could offer countries a cheaper and a more readily available option than the world's first shot against the parasitic disease. “As a malaria researcher, I used to dream of the day we would have a safe and effective vaccine against malaria. Alister Craig, an emeritus professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said he would recommend countries trying to get the GSK vaccine switch to the Oxford vaccine instead. Neither of the malaria vaccines stop transmission so immunization campaigns alone won’t be enough to stop epidemics. In a separate decision, WHO's expert group also authorized the dengue vaccine made by Takeda, which was previously approved by the European Union drug regulator.

Persons: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, ” Tedros, Tedros, it’s, ”, John Johnson, ” Johnson, Melinda Gates, Alister Craig, Craig, Takeda, Jamey Keaten Organizations: World Health Organization, WHO, Oxford University, Serum Institute of India, Research, Oxford, GSK, Melinda Gates Foundation, Serum, Liverpool School, Tropical, European Union, Associated Press, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Africa, Oxford, Bangladesh, Geneva

The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded Monday to two scientists whose work led to the mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. As countries prepared to roll out those shots, The Associated Press took a look at how the vaccines were developed so quickly. ___How could scientists race out COVID-19 vaccines so fast without cutting corners? A head start helped -- over a decade of behind-the-scenes research that had new vaccine technology poised for a challenge just as the coronavirus erupted. Both shots — one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, the other by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health — are so-called messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines, a brand-new technology.

Persons: Dr, Anthony Fauci, Buddy Creech, ” Creech, Tal Zaks, ”, Drew Weissman, Weissman, Katalin, Philip Dormitzer, Barney Graham’s, ” Fauci, Graham, Jason McLellan, hadn't, “, ” Graham, Germany’s, Pfizer’s Dormitzer, Ugur Sahin Organizations: Medicine, COVID, Associated Press, Vanderbilt University, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, National Institutes of Health, NIH, University of Pennsylvania, Penn, NIH’s Vaccine Research Center, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education, AP Locations: U.S, Massachusetts, BioNTech, New York, China

☆ Unleashing a New Weapon on the Mosquito: A Mosquito
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Stephanie Nolen | Eleanor Lutz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Anggy Aldana working at the World Mosquito Program lab in Medellín, Colombia. Researchers found, after painstaking trial and error, that they could insert the bacteria into mosquito eggs using minute needles. How mosquito eggs are injected with Wolbachia A looping video showing a thin needle injecting fluid into a row of black mosquito eggs. How Wolbachia spreads among wild mosquitoes A series of three illustrations showing the outcomes of breeding between wild mosquitoes and mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia. Mosquito eggs and a tray of chilled mosquitoes at the World Mosquito Program lab.

Persons: Eleanor Lutz, Wolbachia, Scott O’Neill, —, O’Neill’s, Steven Sinkins, Marlon Victoria, ”, Victoria, “, O’Neill, It’s, Laura Harrington, They’re, won’t, ” Mr Organizations: Mosquito Program, Mosquito, Brazil —, FRANCE Croatia United, ARGENTINA CHILE Americas, CHILE Americas, University of Glasgow, —, Medellín Health, Colombian, Cornell University Locations: Medellín, Colombia, Cali, Honduras, Australia, Australian, Vietnam, Indonesia, France, Florida and Texas, Brazil, Americas, African, Asia, Europe, FRANCE Croatia United States PORTUGAL JAPAN CHINA Texas PAKISTAN Florida EGYPT INDIA MALI MEXICO PHILIPPINES SUDAN ETHIOPIA Colombia SOMALIA INDONESIA BRAZIL ANGOLA PERU NAMIBIA AUSTRALIA, AFRICA Africa, Oceania, ARGENTINA CHILE, FRANCE Croatia United States PORTUGAL JAPAN CHINA Texas Florida EGYPT, MEXICO MALI PHILIPPINES SUDAN Colombia SOMALIA INDONESIA BRAZIL ANGOLA PERU NAMIBIA AUSTRALIA ARGENTINA Africa, CHILE, Africa, United States, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wolbachia, Siloé, West Africa, Medellin

☆ Insecticides Can’t Stop These Mosquitoes. Now What?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Stephanie Nolen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

We know that in the lab, ATSBs appeal to many mosquito species — those that transmit malaria, those that carry viruses and those that are just annoying. But we don’t know how they will fare in the wild, where they have to compete with fruit and flowers. And we have to be sure they won’t poison bees or other pollinators.

Cases of West Nile virus are increasing in the U.S., with health officials across several states urging residents to take precautions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 43 states have reported West Nile virus infections this year. "The trends we are seeing in our West Nile virus tracking data are unprecedented," Colorado epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy said in a statement last month. West Nile virus is the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental U.S., according to the CDC. There are no vaccines or treatments for West Nile virus in people.

Persons: Rachel Herlihy, “, Shawn M, LaTourette, Public Health Services Nilesh Kalyanaraman Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, New, Jersey Environmental, Maryland, Public Health Services, Health Locations: U.S, Colorado , California , Arizona , Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, West, Southwest, East, New Jersey, ”, Jersey, Maryland

REUTERS/Magali Druscovich/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Climate change and conflict are hitting efforts to tackle three of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has warned. But the increasing challenges of climate change and conflict mean the world is likely to miss the target of putting an end to AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030 without “extraordinary steps”, said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. For example, malaria is spreading to highland parts of Africa that were previously too cold for the mosquito carrying the disease-causing parasite. For example, in 2022, 6.7 million people were treated for TB in the countries where the Global Fund invests, 1.4 million more people than in the previous year. For example, he said, many countries with the highest burden of TB are middle-income countries that have more capacity to fund health services domestically.

Persons: Magali, Peter Sands, Sands, Jennifer Rigby, Jane Merriman, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Global Fund, AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, UN, Assembly, Global, Thomson Locations: Buenos Aires, Argentina, Africa, Sudan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Myanmar

☆ Climate Change Hitting Fight Against AIDS, TB and Malaria
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Jennifer RigbyLONDON (Reuters) - Climate change and conflict are hitting efforts to tackle three of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has warned. International initiatives to fight the diseases have largely recovered after being badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Fund’s 2023 results report released on Monday. But the increasing challenges of climate change and conflict mean the world is likely to miss the target of putting an end to AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030 without “extraordinary steps”, said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. The Fund also helped put 24.5 million people on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, and distributed 220 million mosquito nets. For example, malaria is spreading to highland parts of Africa that were previously too cold for the mosquito carrying the disease-causing parasite.

Persons: Jennifer Rigby LONDON, Peter Sands, Sands, Jennifer Rigby, Jane Merriman Organizations: Global Fund, AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Fund, UN, Assembly Locations: Africa, Sudan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Myanmar

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