Life Sciences Commons^™

Leucocytozoon Cariamae N. Sp. And Haemoproteus Pulcher Coinfection In Cariama Cristata (Aves: Cariamiformes): First Mitochondrial Genome Analysis And Morphological Description Of A Leucocytozoid In Brazil, Lis Marques De C. Vieira, Pedro Henrique O. Pereira, Daniel Ambrózio Da Rocha Vilela, Irène Landau, M. Andreína Pacheco, Ananias A. Escalante, Francisco C. Ferreira, Érika Martins Braga

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

The distribution of avian haemosporidians of the genus Leucocytozoon in the Neotropics remains poorly understood. Recent studies confirmed their presence in the region using molecular techniques alone, but evidence for gametocytes and data on putative competent hosts for Leucocytozoon are still lacking outside highland areas. We combined morphological and molecular data to characterize a new Leucocytozoon species infecting a non-migratory red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata), the first report of a competent host for Leucocytozoon in Brazil. Leucocytozoon cariamae n. sp. is distinguished from the Leucocytozoon fringillinarum group by its microgametocytes that are not strongly appressed to the host cell …

Larval Habitats, Species Composition And Distribution Of Malaria Vectors In Regions With Autochthonous And Imported Malaria In Roraima State, Brazil, Nathália Coelho Vargas De Almeida, Jaime Louzada, Maycon Sebastião Alberto Santos Neves, Thiago M. Carvalho, Júlio Castro‑Alves, Teresa Fernandes Silva‑Do‑Nascimento, Ananias A. Escalante, Joseli Oliveira‑Ferreira

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background: Malaria control requires local action. Assessing the vector diversity and abundance provides information on the local malariogenic potential or risk of transmission. This study aimed to determine the Anopheles species composition, habitats, seasonal occurrence, and distribution in areas with autochthonous and imported malaria cases in Roraima State.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted from January 2017 to October 2018, sampling larvae and adult mosquitoes in three municipalities of Roraima State: Boa Vista, Pacaraima and São João da Baliza. These areas have different risks of malaria importation. Four to six mosquito larval habitats were selected for larval sampling …

Genomic Approaches To Uncovering The Coevolutionary History Of Parasitic Lice [Review], Kevin P. Johnson

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Next-generation sequencing technologies are revolutionizing the fields of genomics, phylogenetics, and population genetics. These new genomic approaches have been extensively applied to a major group of parasites, the lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) of birds and mammals. Two louse genomes have been assembled and annotated to date, and these have opened up new resources for the study of louse biology. Whole genome sequencing has been used to assemble large phylogenomic datasets for lice, incorporating sequences of thousands of genes. These datasets have provided highly supported trees at all taxonomic levels, ranging from relationships among the major groups of lice to those among …

Malaria Resilience In South America: Epidemiology, Vector Biology, And Immunology Insights From The Amazonian International Center Of Excellence In Malaria Research Network In Peru And Brazil, Kathrine Torres, Marcelo U. Ferreira, Marcia C. Castro, Ananias A. Escalante, Jan E. Conn, Elizabeth Villasis, Maisa Da Silva Araujo, Gregorio Almeida, Priscila T. Rodrigues, Rodrigo M. Corder, Anderson R.J. Fernandes, Priscila R. Calil, Winni A. Ladeia, Stefano S. Garcia-Castillo, Joaquin Gomez, Lis Ribeiro Do Valle Antonelli, Ricardo T. Gazzinelli, Douglas T. Golenbock, Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas, Dionicia Gamboa, Joseph M. Vinetz

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

The 1990s saw the rapid reemergence of malaria in Amazonia, where it remains an important public health priority in South America. The Amazonian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) was designed to take a multidisciplinary approach toward identifying novel malaria control and elimination strategies. Based on geographically and epidemiologically distinct sites in the Northeastern Peruvian and Western Brazilian Amazon regions, synergistic projects integrate malaria epidemiology, vector biology, and immunology. The Amazonian ICEMR’s overarching goal is to understand how human behavior and other sociodemographic features of human reservoirs of transmission— predominantly asymptomatically parasitemic people—interact with the major Amazonian malaria …

Complexity Of Malaria Transmission Dynamics In The Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Ana Maria Ribeiro De Castro Duarte, Licia Natal Fernandes, Fabiana Santos Silva, Igor Lucoves Sicchi, Luis Filipe Mucci, Izilda Curado, Aristides Ferrnandes, Antônio Ralph Medeiros-Sousa, Walter Ceretti-Junior, Mauro Toledo Marrelli, Eduardo Evangelista, Renildo Teixeira, Juliana Laurito Summa, Marcello Schiavo Nardi, Margoth Ramos Garnica, Ana Carolina Loss, Julyana Cerqueira Buery, Crispim Cerutti Jr., M. Andreína Pacheco, Ananias A. Escalante, Maria Anice Mureb Sallum, Gabriel Zorello Laporta

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium vivax are protozoan parasites that can cause malaria in humans. They are genetically indistinguishable from, respectively, Plasmodium brasilianum and Plasmodium simium, that is, parasites infecting New World non-human primates in South America. In the tropical rainforests of the Brazilian Atlantic coast, it has long been hypothesized that P. brasilianum and P. simium in platyrrhine primates originated from P. malariae and P. vivax in humans. A recent hypothesis proposed the inclusion of Plasmodium falciparum into the transmission dynamics between humans and non-human primates in the Brazilian Atlantic tropical rainforest. Herein, we assess the occurrence of human …

Malaria In Southern Venezuela: The Hottest Hotspot In Latin America, Maria Eugenia Grillet, Jorge E. Moreno, Juan V. Hernández-Villena, Maria F. Vincenti-González, Oscar Noya, Adriana Tami, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, Martin Llewellyn, Rachel Lowe, Ananias A. Escalante, Jan E. Conn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Malaria elimination in Latin America is becoming an elusive goal. Malaria cases reached a historical ~1 million in 2017 and 2018, with Venezuela contributing 53% and 51% of those cases, respectively. Historically, malaria incidence in southern Venezuela has accounted for most of the country’s total number of cases. The efficient deployment of disease prevention measures and prediction of disease spread to new regions requires an in-depth understanding of spatial heterogeneity on malaria transmission dynamics. Herein, we characterized the spatial epidemiology of malaria in southern Venezuela from 2007 through 2017 and described the extent to which malaria distribution has changed country-wide …

Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, And Viruses Potential Vectors? [Review], Caroline Barreto Vieira, Yanna Reis Praça, Kaio Luís Da Silva Bentes, Paula Beatriz Santiago, Sofia Marcelino Martins Silva, Gabriel Dos Santos Silva, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dorado Bastos, Jaime Martins De Santana, Carla Nunes De Araújo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission …

Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, And Viruses Potential Vectors?, Caroline Barreto Viera, Yanna Reis Praça, Kaio Luis Da Silva Bentes, Paula Beatriz Santiago, Sofia Marcelino Martins Silva, Gabriel Dos Santos Silva, Flávia Nader Motta, Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos, Jaime Martins De Santana, Carla Nunes De Araújo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission …

Echinococcus Multilocularis In Foxes And Raccoon Dogs: An Increasing Concern For Baltic Countries, Guna Bagrade, Gunita Deksne, Zanda Ozoliņa, Samantha Jane Howlett, Maria Interisano, Adriano Casulli, Edoardo Pozio

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background

In Europe, the life cycle of Echinococcus multilocularis is predominantly sylvatic, involving red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) as the main definitive hosts and rodents such as muskrats and arvicolids as intermediate hosts. The parasite is the etiological agent of human alveolar echinococcosis, a malignant zoonotic disease caused by the accidental ingestion of eggs shed by definitive hosts in their feces. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of E. multilocularis in red foxes and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and to study the environmental factors favoring the perpetuation of the parasite in Latvia. …

Paleoparasitological Evidence Of Pinworm (Enterobius Vermicularis) Infection In A Female Adolescent Residing In Ancient Tehran (Iran) 7000 Years Ago, Niloofar Paknazhad, Gholamreza Mowlavi, Jean Dupouy Camet, Mohammad Esmaeili Jelodar, Iraj Mobedi, Mahsasadat Makki, Eshrat Beigom Kia, Mostafa Rezaeian, Mehdi Mohebali, Siamak Sarlak, Faezeh Najafi

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Background: The Molavi street archeological site south of Tehran, Iran accidentally provided a unique opportunity for paleoparasitological studies in Iran. A female skeleton was unearthed and evaluated to be 7,000 years old. Soil samples were collected around the pelvic and sacrum bones.

Findings: Careful microscopic investigation of rehydrated soil samples revealed the presence of one Enterobius vermicularis egg attached to the skeleton sacral region.

Conclusion: The present finding likely represents the oldest evidence of a human pinworm infection in Asia.

Taxonomy And Molecular Epidemiology Of Echinococcus Granulosus Sensu Lato, Thomas Romig, Dennis Ebi, Marion Wassermann

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Echinococcus granulosus, formerly regarded as a single species with a high genotypic and phenotypic diversity, is now recognized as an assemblage of cryptic species, which differ considerably in morphology, development, host specificity (including infectivity/pathogenicity for humans) and other aspects. This diversity is reflected in the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes and has led to the construction of phylogenetic trees and hypotheses on the origin and geographic dispersal of various taxa. Based on phenotypic characters and gene sequences, E. granulosus (sensu lato) has by now been subdivided into E. granulosus sensu stricto (including the formerly identified genotypic variants G1-3), …

Evolution Of Hematophagous Habit In Triatominae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Fernando Otálora-Luna, Antonio J. Pérez-Sánchez, Claudia Sandoval, Elis Aldana

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

All members of Triatominae subfamily (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), potential vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, etiologic agent of the Chagas disease, feed on blood. Through evolution, these bugs have fixed special morphological, physiological, and behavioral aptations (adaptations and exaptations) adequate to feed on blood. Phylogeny suggests that triatomines evolved from predator reduvids which in turn descended from phytophagous hemipterans. Some pleisiomorphic traits developed by the reduvid ancestors of the triatomines facilitated and modeled hematophagy in these insects. Among them, mouthparts, saliva composition, enzymes, and digestive symbionts are the most noticeable. However, the decisive step that allowed the shift from predation to hematophagy …

A Likelihood Approach To Estimate The Number Of Co-Infections, Kristian A. Schneider, Ananias A. Escalante

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Article abstract:

The number of co-infections of a pathogen (multiplicity of infection or MOI) is a relevant parameter in epidemiology as it relates to transmission intensity. Notably, such quantities can be built into a metric in the context of disease control and prevention. Having applications to malaria in mind, we develop here a maximum-likelihood (ML) framework to estimate the quantities of interest at low computational and no additional costs to study designs or data collection. We show how the ML estimate for the quantities of interest and corresponding confidence-regions are obtained from multiple genetic loci. Assuming specifically that infections are …

Cystic Echinococcoses In Mongolia: Molecular Identification, Serology And Risk Factors, Akira Ito, Temuulen Dorjsuren, Anu Davaasuren, Tetsuya Yanagida, Yasuhito Sako, Kazuhiro Nakaya, Minoru Nakao, Oyun-Erdene Bat-Ochir, Tsendjav Ayushkhuu, Narantuya Bazarragchaa, Nyamkhuu Gonchigsengee, Tiaoying Li, Gurbadam Agvaandaram, Abmed Davaajav, Chinchuluun Boldbaatar, Gantigmaa Chuluunbaatar

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Abstract

Background

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a globally distributed cestode zoonosis that causes hepatic cysts. Although Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) is the major causative agent of CE worldwide, recent molecular epidemiological studies have revealed that E. canadensis is common in countries where camels are present. One such country is Mongolia.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Forty-three human hepatic CE cases that were confirmed histopathologically at the National Center of Pathology (NCP) in Ulaanbaatar (UB) were identified by analysis of mitochondrial cox1 gene as being caused by either E. canadensis (n = 31, 72.1%) or E. granulosus s.s. ( …

The Biology And Taxonomy Of Head And Body Lice: Implications For Louse-Borne Disease Prevention, Denise L. Bonilla, Lance A. Durden, Marina E. Eremeeva, Gregory A. Dasch

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of placental mammals including humans. Worldwide, more than 550 species have been described and many are specific to a particular host species of mammal. Three taxa uniquely parasitize humans: the head louse, body louse, and crab (pubic) louse. The body louse, in particular, has epidemiological importance because it is a vector of the causative agents of three important human diseases: epidemic typhus, trench fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever. Since the advent of antibiotics and more effective body louse control measures in the 1940s, these diseases have markedly diminished in incidence. However, due …

A Monkey’S Tale: The Origin Of Plasmodium Vivax As A Human Malaria Parasite, Ananias A. Escalante, Omar E. Cornejo, Denise E. Freeland, Amanda C. Poe, Ester Durrego, William E. Collins, Altaf A. Lal

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

The high prevalence of Duffy negativity (lack of the Duffy blood group antigen) among human populations in sub-Saharan Africa has been used to argue that Plasmodium vivax originated on that continent. Here, we investigate the phylogenetic relationships among 10 species of Plasmodium that infect primates by using three genes, two nuclear (β-tubulin and cell division cycle 2) and a gene from the plastid genome (the elongation factor Tu). We find compelling evidence that P. vivax is derived from a species that inhabited macaques in Southeast Asia. Specifically, those phylogenies that include P. vivax as an ancient lineage from …

Biosystematics And Evolution Of The Triatominae = Biossistemática E Evolução De Triatomíneos, Christopher J. Schofield

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Abstract

In this paper we summarize the systematics of the 130 currently recognized species of Triatominae and the key features of their evolutionary background. There is increasing evidence that the subfamily has polyphyletic origins, with the various tribes and species groups probably arising from different reduviid lineages in relatively recent times.

Resumo

Neste trabalho resume-se a sistemática das 130 espécies de triatomíneos atualmente reconhecidas, com os elementos principais de sua evolução. Existem evidências crescentes para a origem polifilética da subfamília. As diferentes tribos e grupos de espécies que a compõem teriam surgido recentemente, a partir de diferentes linhagens de reduviídeos.

Wild Primate Populations In Emerging Infectious Disease Research: The Missing Link?, Nathan D. Wolfe, Ananias A. Escalante, William B. Karesh, Annelisa Kilbourn, Andrew Spielman, Altaf A. Lal

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Wild primate populations, an unexplored source of information regarding emerging infectious disease, may hold valuable clues to the origins and evolution of some important pathogens. Primates can act as reservoirs for human pathogens. As members of biologically diverse habitats, they serve as sentinels for surveillance of emerging pathogens and provide models for basic research on natural transmission dynamics. Since emerging infectious diseases also pose serious threats to endangered and threatened primate species, studies of these diseases in primate populations can benefit conservation efforts and may provide the missing link between laboratory studies and the well-recognized needs of early disease detection, …

Case Report Of Human Infection With Capillaria Philippinensis, Ching-Yu Chen, Wei-Chuan Hsieh, Tsang-Lie Chen

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

In July 1988, a case of human infection with Capillaria philippinensis, so-called the intestinal capillariasis, was discovered at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). This is the first case reported in Taiwan.

Capillaria philippinesis is a parasite of fish-eating birds In nature it has a fish-bird life cycle. When human populations disrupt the natural cycle by eating raw fish infected with the larvae of C. philippinensis, they may acquire the disease.

Modification Of Sand Fly Biting Behavior By Leishmania Leads To Increased Parasite Transmission, Raymond Beach, Gabriel Kjilu, Johannis Leeuwenberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

To attempt rodent-sand fly-rodent transmission of Leishmania major, laboratory-reared Phlebotomus doboscqi were fed on L. major-infected mice and then refed on uninfected mice 21 days later. Flies which refed either probed 1–2 times and took a full blood meal in less than 10 minutes or probed 3 or more times and took little or no blood during a period of 15 minutes or more. When dissected, 7 of 8 flies which experienced difficulty in obtaining a blood meal had flagellates in their cibaria, an observation supporting the hypothesis that parasites in this part of the alimentary canal modify normal …

Arthropods Of Medical Importance In Asia (And The European Ussr), Part Ii: Data On Arthropods Other Than Mosquitoes, Bernard V. Travis, Renato M. Labadan

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Includes information on black flies, sand flies, midges, horse flies, biting flies, non-biting flies, fleas, bugs, urticating and vesicating arthropods, ticks, mites, and miscellaneous arthropods of medical importance from Asia and the European USSR.

The Gizzard Worm And Its Transmission To Chickens In Hawaii, Joseph E. Alicata

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Gizzard-worms of poultry, Cheiloapirura hamulosa, are nematodes occurring in the gizzards of chickens and turkeys.

Summary and Conclusions

Previous to this report the carriers for the gizzard-worm in Hawaii were unknown. Recent investigations by the writer have shown that the flour beetle, Tenebroides nana, and the sand hopper, Orchestia platensis, collected from poultry farms in the Territory of Hawaii have been found naturally infested with the infective larvae of the poultry gizzard-worm, Cheilospirura hamulosa. Out of 8 laboratory-raised chickens to which there were fed about 2,300 grasshoppers that had been collected in an endemic gizzard-worm area, …

Summary Of Two Years' Study Of Insects In Relation To Pellagra, Allan H. Jennings

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Excerpt:

With the growing interest in pellagra, following the authoritative recognition of its presence in the United States in 1907, the study of its etiology was taken up by various investigators and the several theories of causation were subjected to close scrutiny.

Prominent among these theories was that of insect transmission, first advanced by Sambon, who limited this function to the species of blood-sucking gnats comprising the genus Simulium.

The importance of the disease and the possibility of such a factor in its causation, led the Bureau of Entomology, late in 1911, to undertake an investigation of the subject …

Dr. Nott's Theory Of Insect Causation Of Disease, William A. Riley

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Excerpt:

The danger in using isolated sentences from an article as a basis for interpreting the author's theories, is generally recognized, but sometimes the most careful workers fall into the trap. Once the mistaken interpretation is published, it may be copied over and over again until it rises to the dignity of a dogma.

A striking illustration is afforded by the practical unanimity with which writers on the subject of insects and disease credit Dr. Josiah Nott with being the earliest to formulate definitely the theory of mosquito transmission of yellow fever.

Nuttall, in his classic monograph On the Role …