Certain viruses like dengue and Zika can make their hosts smell tastier to mosquitoes. Luckily, vitamin A and its derivatives may help combat these odor changes.
Pieter Vancamp, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN) and Barbara Demeneix, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN)
A new study shows that the pesticide pyriproxyfen – widely used in Brazil during the Zika outbreak of 2015 – could disrupt thyroid hormones and thus affect brain development in children.
Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Catesby Holmes, The Conversation, and Daniel Merino, The Conversation
Plus, why Brazilian women who lived through Zika are avoiding getting pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to episode 18 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Officials in Brazil recently asked women to avoid pregnancy, citing heightened risk to them and newborns. But births were already dropping; a new study attributes it to the trauma of Zika.
Brian Allan, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Chris Stone, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Holly Tuten, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jennifer Kuzma, North Carolina State University, and Natalie Kofler, Harvard University
Release of GM mosquitoes in Florida is imminent. But a multidisciplinary team of scientists believe that more studies are needed first. They encourage a publicly accessible registry for GM organisms.
The declaration does not mean the risk to Canadians has changed, but it does mean Canada must step up to help those countries with weaker heath-care systems.
Nuisance-biting and mosquito-borne disease are ongoing concerns for health authorities. But an effective citizen science program is now showing how all of us can help beat the bite of mozzies.
There’s a big market for new treatments for TB, malaria and other ailments. But most of these diseases afflict low-income people unable to pay for medicine.
In January, measles returned to the Pacific Northwest, while Ebola resurged in the Congo. It would take a lot more research for scientists to be able to stop threats like these in their tracks.
Researchers are exploring genetic forms of population control called gene drives that spread traits faster that happens naturally. The goal is to curb mosquito-borne diseases like malaria.
Japanese encephalitis virus is rare and doesn’t usually cause symptoms. But in a small proportion of cases it can result in long-term neurological impairment and death.
Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
Associate Dean For Global One Health, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; and Director, Pandemic and Biosecurity Policy Program, Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University