- California - West Nile Positive Mosquitoes
Found
- From Michael Ziccardi <mhziccardi@ucdavis.edu
- University of California, Davis, News
- Wed 20 Aug 2003 [edited]
-
- Relying on tests conducted by the University of California,
Davis, the California Department of Health Services today announced the
first evidence of West Nile virus in the state in 2003. The UC Davis tests
showed that mosquitoes collected in Imperial County near the Salton Sea
were carrying the virus. The mosquitoes were collected by UC Davis staff
researchers in the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area, on the southeast
rim of the Salton Sea. They were tested by laboratory staff members at
the UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases.
-
- The state health department also said that preliminary
tests at state laboratories showed that flocks of sentinel chickens from
the same region are likely infected with West Nile Virus. The blood tests
indicate that the chickens, which are kept in flocks outdoors, were bitten
by mosquitoes infected with West Nile or a closely related virus, the health
department said. The Department of Health Services coordinates statewide
efforts to prevent the spread of the virus and to watch for it in mosquitoes,
wild birds, sentinel chickens, horses, and humans.
-
- UC Davis, with the largest West Nile research and testing
programs in the state, is fundamental to those public-health efforts. "During
the 2003 season we have tested more than 5000 groups of 1 to 50 mosquitoes
each, as well as tissue samples from birds and other animals, for the presence
of West Nile virus," said John Edman, director of the Center for Vectorborne
Diseases and a UC Davis professor of medical entomology. "All were
negative until Tuesday, when we discovered West Nile virus in this group
of 27 _Culex tarsalis_ mosquitoes we collected near the Salton Sea."
-
- UC Davis researchers recently showed that, among some
200 mosquito species in the United States, _Culex tarsalis_ is the species
that transmits West Nile virus most effectively. UC Davis professor of
entomology Thomas Scott and his students discovered that _C. tarsalis_
can spread the virus most efficiently to hosts such as birds, horses, and
people. A significant proportion can pass the virus through its eggs to
its offspring.
-
- The UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases performs
the tests for the state of California to detect West Nile virus in samples
from mosquitoes, wild birds, horses, and other animals. Samples from sentinel
chickens and humans are tested for viral antibodies in the state laboratories
in Richmond.
-
- More information on today's announcement by the California
Department of Health Services, along with public safety tips, is posted
at http://www.dhs.ca.gov.
-
- http://www-news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=6590<
FONT SIZE=+1>
-
- Michael Ziccardi DVM MPVM PhD
- Director, Oiled Wildlife Care Network
- Sr. Wildlife Veterinarian/Epidemiologist
- Wildlife Health Center
- University of California
- Davis, CA 95616
- <mhziccardi@ucdavis.edu
-
- [This is the first confirmation of the spread of West
Nile virus as far west as the state of California. 2 previous human cases
of West Nile virus infection in California are believed to have been a
consequence of exposure to the virus outside of the state. - Mod.CP]
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergi
ngdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
