Latest Zoonoses Stories
New virus could be the first filovirus to cause disease in bats A team of international researchers has discovered a new Ebola-like virus – Lloviu virus -- in bats from northern Spain. Lloviu virus is the first known filovirus native to Europe, they report in a study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens on Octobr 20th. The study was a collaboration among scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the Instituto...
WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- If you think that fall signals the end of heartworm season, think again. The American Heartworm Society (AHS) cautions the pet-owning public that heartworm disease is not solely a summer threat. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52009-american-heartworm-society-urges-year-round-pet-protection (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111006/MM76424LOGO ) To help pet owners...
NORRISTOWN, Pa., Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection will apply treatments the evening of Friday, Oct. 7, in portions of Richland Township and Quakertown Borough, Bucks County, to control adult mosquito populations. As a result of recent flooding, high populations of adult mosquitoes capable of transmitting the West Nile virus have been detected near these areas of the county. The treatments will be administered with truck-mounted equipment to...
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist has developed a partnership with colleagues in South Africa that is improving prospects for cattle breeders in that African nation—and could improve them for breeders around the world. Efforts by Mike MacNeil, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist at the agency's Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Mont., are designed to equip South Africa's scientists with better research tools to help cattle...
North American babies who acquire toxoplasmosis infections in the womb show much higher rates of brain and eye damage than European infants with the same infection, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Eighty-four percent of the North American infants studied had serious complications of the parasitic infection, including calcium deposits in the brain, water on the brain and eye disease that caused visual impairment or blindness. By contrast, few...
A vaccine that protects cattle against East Coast fever, a destructive disease in eastern and central Africa, is being developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya. Entomologist Glen Scoles, veterinary medical officer Massaro Ueti and research leader Don Knowles at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Animal Disease Research Unit (ADRU) in Pullman, Wash., have been working on the collaborative...
NORRISTOWN, Pa., Oct. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection will apply treatments the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the West Bristol section of Bristol Township, Bucks County, to control adult mosquito populations. As a result of recent flooding, high populations of adult mosquitoes capable of transmitting the West Nile virus have been detected near this area of the county. The treatments will be administered with truck-mounted equipment to spray...
As part of preparations for a possible large-scale anthrax attack, public health officials on the state and local levels should determine where and how anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be stored in their communities, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The report recommends that state, local, and tribal health officials work with the federal government to assess the benefits and costs of strategies that preposition antibiotics close to or in the hands of people who will...
NORRISTOWN, Pa., Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Environmental Protection will apply treatments the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 28, in portions of Concord and Chadds Ford townships, Delaware County, to control adult mosquito populations. In the event of rain, the spraying will be rescheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29. High populations of adult mosquitoes capable of transmitting the West Nile virus have been detected near these areas of the county. The treatments...
Fresh insight into how viruses such as SARS and flu can jump from one species to another may help scientists predict the emergence of diseases in future. Researchers have shown that viruses are better able to infect species that are closely related to their typical target species than species that are distantly related. Their results suggest that when diseases make the leap to a distant species – such as bird flu infecting humans – they may then spread easily in species closely...
Latest Zoonoses Reference Libraries
The eye-worm (Loa loa) is a species of roundworm within the Nematoda phylum. It can be found in India and Africa, among other areas. This species causes a disease known as Loa loa filariasis and is one of three species that can cause subcutaneous filariasis in humans. Females are larger than males, reaching an average body length of up to 2.7 inches, with males reaching an average body length of up to 1.3 inches. The first stage of life for the eye-worm begins when an adult worm, which is...
The dog roundworm (Toxocara canis) is a species of parasitic worm that infects canid species. It is yellowish white in color and can reach an average length between 3.5 and 7 inches, with females typically growing large than males. The dog roundworm can be transmitted in four different ways. The most common form of transmission occurs when an egg containing second stage larvae is released onto the ground in feces. Once the egg has been ingested, it will move through the small intestines...
The White-footed Mouse, (Peromyscus leucopus), is a species of rodent native to North America. Its range extends from Ontario, Quebec, Labrador and the Maritime Provinces (excluding Newfoundland) south to the southwestern United States and Mexico. In Texas this creature is known as the Woodmouse. The adult of this species measures 3.5 to 3.9 inches in length, not counting the tail, which can measure an additional 2.5 to 3.8 inches. It weighs typically about an ounce. It has a maximum life...
Rickettsia rickettsii is a gram-negative bacterium native to the New World and causes the malady known as Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). It is transmitted through the bit of an infected tick when it feeds on animals and humans. Humans are not necessary hosts in the rickettsia-tick life cycle but they can be. S. Burt Wolbach created the first detailed description of the etiologic agent in 1919. He recognized it as an intracellular bacterium seen most frequently in endothelial cells....
West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. It is part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses and is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It primarily infects birds but can infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, and other mammals. Humans are generally infected through the bites of mosquitoes and about 90% of West Nile Virus infections are without symptoms. The virion is 45-60 nm and covered with a relatively smooth protein surface. It is...
