Water temperature key to schistosomiasis risk and prevention strategies
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A new study finds that the transmission risk for schistosomiasis peaks when water warms to 21.7 degrees centigrade, and that the most effective interventions should include snail removal measures implemented when the temperature is below that risk threshold.
According to a UN-agreement, assistance dogs like guide dogs, signal dogs and medical response dogs are welcome in hospitals and other public places. However, in practice, they are regularly refused entry. Hygiene reasons are often given as the main argument for this. Research by Utrecht University now shows that the paws of assistance dogs are cleaner than the shoe soles of their users, and thus, paw hygiene is no reason to ban assistance dogs from hospitals.
Malaria is the deadliest pathogen in human history, and by studying the strains of malaria that birds carry, scientists might be able to help prevent the disease in humans. Researchers analyzed blood samples of more than 1,000 species of birds from the Andes looking for malaria; they found that the strains of malaria present in a local area don't always neatly align with the types of birds living there.
Parasitic flatworms known as agents of food-borne zoonoses were confirmed to use several species of thiarid snails, commonly found in freshwater and brackish environments in southeast Asia, as their first intermediate host. These parasites can cause severe ocular infections in humans who consume raw or improperly cooked fish that have fed on parasitised snails. The study, conducted in South Thailand, is published in the peer-reviewed open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
Furthermore, the targeted Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) intervention was safe, less costly, and more cost-effective compared with standard 'blanket' IRS, meaning savings could potentially be reallocated to other malaria control and elimination activities.
According to Childs' team's study, while a mosquito ingests the parasite in a "blood meal" by biting an infected person, it typically takes about 10 to 14 days -- known as the "extrinsic incubation period" or EIP -- until the parasites appear in the mosquito's salivary glands where it can then be transmitted to another human.
This study, published recently in the international journal Insects, was conducted by researchers from the University of Granada, the Doñana Biological Station, and the Biomedical Research Networking Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP)
University of Otago research reveals bees' sense of smell gives them a fighting chance against the deadly parasitic mite, Varroa destructor. Varroa mites present one of the greatest challenges to honey bee health worldwide. The mites feed directly on honey bee fat stores and transfer numerous pathogens to the bee, including the deadly deformed wing virus.
University of Central Florida researchers are homing in on the cause of a major disease of sea turtles, with some of their latest findings implicating saltwater leeches as a possible factor. The results, published recently in the journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, present the first evidence of a significant association between leeches and the disease in sea turtles, according to the researchers.
After nearly a decade of research, a new test that detects the magnetic properties of malaria-infected blood could soon be used to help eliminate the mosquito-borne disease.