West Nile Virus
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- Garey,
Joan, and Mary S. Wolff. 1998. Estrogenic and Antiprohestagenic
Activities of Pyrethroid Insecticides. Biochemical and
Biophysical Research Communications (3) 251:855-859. http://www.idealibrary.com/links/toc/bbrc/251/3/0.
Abstract: Many pesticides possess hormonal activity and have thus been classified as endocrine disruptors. Pyrethroids are commonly used insecticides worldwide, but little has been done to characterize their hormone agonist/antagonist potential. We tested four frequently encountered pyrethroids, fenvalerate, sumithrin, d-trans allethrin, and permethrin, for estrogen and progesterone agonist/antagonist activities using the Ishikawa Var-I human endometrial cancer cell line and the T47D human breast cancer cell line. Both cell lines produce phosphatase as an indicator of hormonal activity. Fenvalerate and sumithrin demonstrated significant estrogenicity; at concentrations of 10 µM, these compounds achieved maximal comparable to that of 10 nM 17-ethynylestradiol in Ishikawa Var-I cells. None of the four compounds showed statistically significant estrogen antagonist activity or acted as progestins. However, fenvalerate and d-trans allethrin significantly antagonized the action of progesterone in T47D cells. Through these hormonal pathways, exposure to certain pyrethroids may contribute to reproductive dysfunction, developmental impairment, and cancer.
- Garrett,
Laurie. 2000. Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public
Health. Hyperion, New York. 784 pages.
Laurie Garrett's website (www.lauriegarrett.com) contains links to a wealth of information on the subject of global disease, more information about this book and the unabridged version of American public health history, as told in chapter 4 of "Betrayal of Trust."Review from www.Amazon.com: "In The Coming Plague, her New York Times bestselling account of the emergence of deadly new diseases around the world, Laurie Garrett brought her extraordinary reporting techniques to bear on an exploding health crisis. Coinciding with the book's release, the Ebola virus broke out in Zaire, sparking an epidemic. Her outstanding coverage of this event won Garrett the Pulitzer Prize. Now she takes readers around the world to reveal how a series of potential and present public health catastrophes mark the death of public health, which taken together form a terrifying portrait of real global disaster in the making. Garrett takes us to India, where she rivetingly and meticulously examines the course of the country's pneumonic plague; to Zaire, where the Ebola virus is still largely unchecked; to Russia, where bad policy and a collapsing society have made for staggering setbacks in all areas of health; and back to the U.S., where a drastically reduced public health system struggles, often unsuccessfully, to cope with new global threats to the nation's food, water, hospitals, and communities. In a section certain to provoke alarm and debate, Garrett also exposes the increasingly chaotic, ungoverned world of biological terrorism, a threat we have yet to fully comprehend. Written with the same thrilling, minute-by-minute narrative force that made The Coming Plague as exciting as it was important, Betrayal of Trust is a monumental achievement and a heartstopping account of the other side of globalization, and why it may be too late to avert full-out crisis."
- Gaunt, Michael W., Amadou A. Sall, Xavier de Lamballerie, Andrew K. I. Falconar, Tatyana I. Dzhivanian, and Ernest A. Gould. 2001. Phylogenetic Relationships of Flaviviruses Correlate with Their Epidemiology, Disease Association and Biogeography. Journal of General Virology 82:1867-1876. [PDF]
Summary (written by Caroline Ash): The flaviviruses are responsible for many diseases of significance to humans. Gaunt et al. have used sequence data to construct phylogenetic trees to help define the complex interrelationships between the viruses, their hosts, and the diseases they cause.
The flaviviruses fall into three major clades: mosquito-borne, tick-borne, and those with no known vectors. Hence, it seems the Aedes spp. of mosquitoes are associated with the primate hemorrhagic diseases, including dengue and yellow fevers, which reflects the slightly fussy feeding habits of this mosquito genus. The Culex spp. group appears to have evolved later than the Aedes group and are indiscriminate feeders transmitting neurotrophic viruses, including West Nile fever and Japanese encephalitis among mammals and birds. In contrast, the tick-borne viruses do not divide into disease groups, but the shift to the universal vector Ixodes has hit economically important targets, as with louping ill virus in sheep.
It appears that the out-of-Africa notion also holds true for the flaviviruses, and it is probable that yellow fever and dengue crossed the Atlantic on slave ships. Gaunt et al. hope that this kind of analysis will offer a tool not just for tracing the history of these viruses, but for predicting and monitoring the emergence of new viral diseases.
Abstract: Phylogenetic analysis of the Flavivirus genus, using either partial sequences of the non-structural 5 gene or the structural envelope gene, revealed an extensive series of clades defined by their epidemiology and disease associations. These phylogenies identified mosquito-borne, tick-borne and no-known-vector (NKV) virus clades, which could be further subdivided into clades defined by their principal vertebrate host. The mosquito-borne flaviviruses revealed two distinct epidemiological groups: (i) the neurotropic viruses, often associated with encephalitic disease in humans or livestock, correlated with the Culex species vector and bird reservoirs and (ii) the non-neurotropic viruses, associated with haemorrhagic disease in humans, correlated with the Aedes species vector and primate hosts. Thus, the tree topology describing the virus-host association may reflect differences in the feeding behaviour between Aedes and Culex mosquitoes. The tick-borne viruses also formed two distinct groups: one group associated with seabirds and the other, the tick-borne encephalitis complex viruses, associated primarily with rodents. The NKV flaviviruses formed three distinct groups: one group, which was closely related to the mosquito-borne viruses, associated with bats; a second group, which was more genetically distant, also associated with bats; and a third group associated with rodents. Each epidemiological group within the phylogenies revealed distinct geographical clusters in either the Old World or the New World, which for mosquito-borne viruses may reflect an Old World origin. The correlation between epidemiology, disease correlation and biogeography begins to define the complex evolutionary relationships between the virus, vector, vertebrate host and ecological niche.
- Georges,
A.J., J.L. Lesbordes, M.C. Georges-Courbot, et al. 1988.
Fatal Hepatitis from West Nile Virus. Annals of Inst.
Pastuer Virology 138:237.
- Glass, J.D., Samuels, O. & Rich, M. M. 2002. Poliomyelitis due to West Nile virus. New England Journal of Medicine, published online (2002). [pdf].
- Go,
Vera, Joan Garey, Mary S. Wolff, and Beatriz G.T. Pogo. 1999.
Estrogenic Potential of Certain Pyrethroid Compounds in the
MCF-7 Human Breast Carcinoma Cell Line. Environmental
Health Perspectives 107(3): 173-177. http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1999/107p173-177go/abstract.html
Abstract: Estrogens, whether natural or synthetic, clearly influence reproductive development, senescence, and carcinogenesis. Pyrethroid insecticides are now the most widely used agents for indoor pest control, providing potential for human exposure. Using the MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line, we studied the estrogenic potential of several synthetic pyrethroid compounds in vitro using pS2 mRNA levels as the end point. We tested sumithrin, fenvalerate, d-trans allethrin, and permethrin. Nanomolar concentrations of either sumithrin or fenvalerate were sufficient to increase pS2 expression slightly above basal levels. At micromolar concentrations, these two pyrethroid compounds induced pS2 expression to levels comparable to those elicited by 10 nM 17§-estradiol (fivefold). The estrogenic activity of sumithrin was abolished with co-treatment with an antiestrogen (ICI 164,384), whereas estrogenic activity of fenvalerate was not significantly diminished with antiestrogen co-treatment. In addition, both sumithrin and fenvalerate were able to induce cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a dose-response fashion. Neither permethrin nor d-trans allethrin affected pS2 expression. Permethrin had a noticeable effect on cell proliferation at 100 µM, whereas d-trans allethrin slightly induced MCF-7 cell proliferation at 10 µM, but was toxic at higher concentrations. Overall, our studies imply that each pyrethroid compound is unique in its ability to influence several cellular pathways. These findings suggest that pyrethroids should be considered to be hormone disruptors, and their potential to affect endocrine function in humans and wildlife should be investigated.
- Gochfeld,
Michael. 2000. Public Panic over West Nile Virus.American
Butterflies. http://www.naba.org/wnvirus.html
The author is Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and School of Public Health
Excerpt: ... The reason that my colleagues and I argued against broadcast spraying [of mosquito adulticide pesticides] are 1) in broadcast application most of the spray falls on areas where the likelihood of mosquito-human contact is low. Thus areas with few mosquitoes but many other non-target species are sprayed, as are densely populated residential areas where mosquito populations are low to begin with. 2) It is not made clear to the public that these broad-spectrum insecticides kill many other insects besides mosquitoes. These include economically valuable insects such as honeybees, praying mantids and ladybird beetles as well as conspicuous and attractive species such as butterflies. Such insecticides also destroy innumerable less conspicuous insects that are important components of biodiversity and are the food for birds and small mammals. This, after all, was the message of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" published in 1962, that even her detractors recognize as one of the most influential books of the 20th century.
In weighing the risks and benefits of mosquito control, we should also consider the disease itself and the risk to the human population. The media always paired the words "lethal" or "deadly" with "West Nile" or "encephalitis," reinforcing in the public's mind the danger from the disease. But it would be equally appropriate to characterize West Nile Virus infection as "inapparent," "usually asymptomatic," or occasionally serious." Seven deaths in a population of over 10 million people over a one month period is certainly tragic, but pales besides the number of deaths from many other diseases that are addressed less aggressively.
The only human epidemic of West Nile Virus infection that has been well-studied occurred in Romania in the late summer of 1996. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, certainly the premier infectious disease control agency in the world, assisted in the evaluation and control of that epidemic and recently published a report in The Lancet, the leading British medical journal.
In that epidemic an estimated 94,000 people were infected by the virus, of whom about 400 developed clinically apparent encephalitis confirmed by virological studies. Fifteen of those people, almost all over the age of 65, died. Thus, even if one is bitten by an infected mosquito, the risk of suffering disease is very low and the risk of dying much lower. Moreover, in Africa where West Nile Virus has been recognized for more than sixty years and where it is widespread, there have been very few human epidemics. In fact, West Nile Virus infection is characterized by its sporadic outbreak in humans, even in areas where it is endemic in birds. This is likewise true of related infections, such as St. Louis encephalitis and Easter equine encephalitis, where 30 or more years may pass between human outbreaks. A knowledge of these numbers is crucial in assessing the risk-risk tradeoffs essential to public health decisions in this area.
- Goddard, Laura B., Amy E. Roth, William K. Reisen, and Thomas W. Scott. 2002. Vector Competence of California Mosquitoes for West Nile virus. Emerging Infectious Diseases 8(12):1385-1391. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol8no12/02-0536.htm
Abstract: To identify the mosquito species competent for West Nile virus (WNV) transmission, we evaluated 10 California species that are known vectors of other arboviruses or major pests: Culex tarsalis, Cx. pipiens pipiens, Cx. p. quinquefasciatus, Cx. stigmatosoma, Cx. erythrothorax, Ochlerotatus dorsalis, Oc. melanimon, Oc. sierrensis, Aedes vexans, and Culiseta inornata. All 10 became infected and were able to transmit WNV at some level. Ochlerotatus, Culiseta, and Aedes were low to moderately efficient vectors. They feed primarily on mammals and could play a secondary role in transmission. Oc. sierrensis, a major pest species, and Cx. p. quinquefasciatus from southern California were the least efficient laboratory vectors. Cx. tarsalis, Cx. stigmatosoma, Cx. erythrothorax, and other populations of Cx. pipiens complex were the most efficient laboratory vectors. Culex species are likely to play the primary role in the enzootic maintenance and transmission of WNV in California.
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Good News about West Nile. Nov 16, 2001. Academic Press Daily InSCIght.
http://www.academicpress.com/inscight/11162001/graphb.htm
Summary: The study by Dr Robert Tesh that is described in the article looked at cross immunity in hamsters between WN and other flaviviruses and flavivirus vaccines. It concluded that there is broad cross immunity (except from the yellow fever vaccine) that may reduce human risk from WNV as it moves south, since much of the population in Central and South America has previously been exposed to these diseases. The findings also suggest that high risk groups (such as researchers working with the WNV) might benefit from vaccination against other of the flaviviruses, since there is not yet a vaccine against WNV. However, caution is suggested in extrapolating directly from the immune response in hamsters. It is also of interest that hamsters in lab settings are quite susceptible to WNV: 50% mortality from infection.
- Greenblatt,
Charles L., ed. 1998. Digging for Pathogens: Ancient Emerging
Diseases--Their Evolutionary, Anthropological and Archaeological
Context. Balaban Publishers: Rehovot, Israel.
Summarized from Review: Digging for Pathogens is the proceedings of the first conference held by the Center for the Study of Emerging Diseases, Jerusalem. May 1997. .. The subject of this monograph is "paleo- and prospective parasitism," or ways in which knowing the causes of ancient diseases contributes to our understanding of emerging ones. The book is divided into three sections. The first two--The Evolutionary Context and The Anthropological and Archaeological Context--provide a strong background for understanding the respective roles of parasites, arthropod vectors, vertebrate hosts, and humans in affecting disease outcomes. This book is the first to focus on the isolation, characterization, and interpretation of ancient DNA (aDNA) in relation to infectious disease and pathology (1). The titular third section, Digging for Pathogens, expertly summarizes the technical and practical aspects of paleopathology, including the fate of biologic markers (Eglinton, chapter 15), aDNA (Herrmann and Hummel, chapter 16), and arthropods as reservoirs and vectors of pathogens, both ancient and modern (Spigelman and Greenblatt, chapter 17). Digging for Pathogens deserves a wider audience than infectious disease specialists, evolutionary biologists, and parasitologists. For university students of microbe-host interactions, who are increasingly trained in molecular biology but may have scant grasp of evolution or organismic biology, this book should be required reading. (Reviewed by Rajeev Vaidyanathan. Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 5 Sep-Oct 2000.)
- Groves,
R. L.,D.A. Dame, C.L. Meek, and M.V. Meisch. 1997. Efficacy
of Three Synthetic Pyrethroids against Three Mosquito Species
in Arkansas and Louisiana. Journal of the American Mosquito
Control Association 13(2):182-188.
Abstract: Adult mortality of Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Aedes sollicitans was observed following ultra-low-volume (ULV) exposure to Responde, Permanon 31-66 RTU, and Scourge. Permanone 31-66 RTU (1:2.13, permethrin: PBO) and Scourge (1:3, resmethrin: PBO) were applied at 0.00175 lb AI/acre, while Responde (1:3, prallethrin: PBO) was applied at 0.001lb AI/acre, and all were evaluated at 100, 200, and 300 ft. downwind of application. Significant mortality differences (P less than or equal to 0.05) were observed among all compounds at 15 min and at 1, 12, and 24 hour posttreatment against An. quadrimaculatus and Cx. quinquefasciatus. Responde exhibited significantly great control (knockdown against An. quadrimaculatus at both 15 min and 1 h posttreatment than did Permanon 31-66 RTU or Scourge; however, some recovery occurred by 12 h posttreatment. At 15 min posttreatment, Responde and Scourge were significantly more effective against Cx. quinquefasciatus that Permanone 31-66 RTU except at 300 ft downwind, where Scourge was significantly more effective than either compound. No significant mortality differences were observed among the 3 compounds at 15 min, 1 h, 12 h, and 24 h posttreatment when tested against Ae. sollicitans. No significant mortality differences were observed between the 1:3 and 1:5 (prallethrin:piperonyl butoxide) formulations of Responde at any time posttreatment when tested against Ae. sollicitans.
- Gruwell, J.A., B.L. Brown, E.T. Schreiber and J.P. Webb. 1989. Arbovirus in Passeriform Birds in Orange County, California. Proceedings. California Mosquito and Vector Control Association 57: 28-36.
- Gubler,
Duane J. 1998. Resurgent Vector-Borne Diseases as a Global
Health Problem.Emerging
Infectious Diseases 4(3):442-450.
Abstract: Vector-borne infectious diseases are emerging or resurging as a result of changes in public health policy, insecticide and drug resistance, shift in emphasis from prevention to emergency response, demographic and societal changes, and genetic changes in pathogens. Effective prevention strategies can reverse this trend. Research on vaccines, environmentally safe insecticides, alternative approaches to vector control, and training programs for health-care workers are needed.
- Gubler Duane J. and J. W. LeDuc. 1998. Viral Zoonoses. Chapter 31, pp. 1-10, in D.C. Dale and D.D. Federman, eds. Scientific American Medicine, Vol. II, 7 Infectious Diseases Scientific American, Inc.: Seattle, WA.
