2006
This 2006 photograph depicted a female, Aedes aegypti mosquito, from a left lateral perspective, while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host. The feeding apparatus consisted of a sharp, orange-colored stylet. When not feeding, the stylet would be covered in a soft, pliant sheath, known as the labellum, which was shown here, retracted exposing the sharp stylet. The orange color of the stylet was due to the red color of the blood, as it migrated up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Note how her distended abdomen exhibited a red coloration, as it filled with the insect’s blood meal.
This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. The feeding apparatus consisting of a sharp, orange-colored “fascicle”, which while not feeding, is covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the “labellum”, which retracts as the sharp stylets contained within pierce the host’s skin surface, as the insect obtains its blood meal. The orange color of the fascicle is due to the red color of the blood as it migrates up the thin, sharp translucent tube. Note the distended abdominal exoskeleton, which being translucent, allowed the color of the ingested blood meal to be visible.
DF and DHF are primarily diseases of tropical and sub-tropical areas, and the four different dengue serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4), are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and the Aedes mosquito. However, Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans, is the most common Aedes species. Infections produce a spectrum of clinical illness ranging from a nonspecific viral syndrome to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Important risk factors for DHF include the strain of the infecting virus, as well as the age, and especially the prior dengue infection history of the patient.
The mosquito-borne disease eastern equine encephalitis has been detected in Rhode Island for the first time this season, state environmental officials said Friday.
The mosquito pool producing the positive sample of the potentially deadly disease consisted of 50 individual members of a species of mosquito that bites birds almost exclusively. They were trapped Aug. 11 in Chapman Swamp in Westerly.
The disease has been detected in mosquitoes at the site several times in the past.
The other 102 pools of mosquitoes collected Aug. 11 all tested negative for EEE and West Nile virus.
Results from 147 pools collected Monday are still pending.
There have been no human cases of EEE in Rhode Island this year. Last year there were three human cases, including one death. Massachusetts has confirmed three human cases this season.
Health officials recommend using mosquito repellent outdoors, wearing long sleeves and pants, and avoiding outdoor activity during the dusk and dawn hours when mosquitoes are most active.
