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As the threat of arboviral diseases continues to escalate worldwide, the question of, “What types of human communities are at the greatest risk of infection?” persists as a key gap in the existing knowledge of arboviral diseases transmission dynamics. Here, we comprehensively review the existing literature on the socioeconomic drivers of the most common Aedes mosquito-borne diseases and Aedes mosquito presence/abundance. We reviewed a total of 182 studies on dengue viruses (DENV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV), yellow fever virus (YFVV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and presence of Aedes mosquito vectors. In general, associations between socioeconomic conditions and both Aedes -borne diseases and Aedes mosquitoes are highly variable and often location-specific. Although 50% to 60% of studies found greater presence or prevalence of disease or vectors in areas with lower socioeconomic status, approximately half of the remaining studies found either positive or null associations. We discuss the possible causes of this lack of conclusiveness as well as the implications it holds for future research and prevention efforts.

BackgroundAlcohol consumption is an established risk factor for breast cancer metastasis. Yet, the mechanism by which alcohol promotes breast cancer metastases is unknown. The ability of cancer cells to invade through tissue barriers (such as basement membrane and interstitial stroma) is an essential step towards establishing cancer metastasis. In the present study, we identify and examine the roles of two genes, Nm23 and ITGA5, in alcohol-induced breast cancer cell invasion.MethodsHuman breast cancer T47D cells were treated with ethanol at various concentrations. Boyden chamber invasion assays were used to measure cellular invasive ability. The mRNA expression level of metastasis suppressor genes including Nm23 was determined by qRT-PCR. ITGA5 was identified using a qRT-PCR array of 84 genes important for cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions. Nm23 overexpression in addition to Nm23- and ITGA5 knock-down were used to determine the role of the Nm23-ITGA5 pathway on cellular invasive ability of T47D cells. Protein expression levels were verified by Western blot.ResultsAlcohol increased the invasive ability of human breast cancer T47D cells in a dose-dependent manner through the suppression of the Nm23 metastatic suppressor gene. In turn, Nm23 down-regulation increased expression of fibronectin receptor subunit ITGA5, which subsequently led to increased cellular invasion. Moreover, Nm23 overexpression was effective in suppressing the effects of alcohol on cell invasion. In addition, we show that the effects of alcohol on invasion were also inhibited by knock-down of ITGA5.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the Nm23-ITGA5 pathway plays a critical role in alcohol-induced breast cancer cell invasion. Thus, regulation of this pathway may potentially be used to prevent the establishment of alcohol-promoted metastases in human breast cancers.

BackgroundCOPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both high- and low-income countries and a major public health burden worldwide. While cigarette smoking remains the main cause of COPD, outdoor and indoor air pollution are important risk factors to its etiology. Although studies over the last 30 years helped reduce the values, it is not very clear if the current air quality guidelines are adequately protective for COPD sufferers.ObjectiveThis systematic review was to summarize the up-to-date literature on the impact of air pollution on the COPD sufferers.MethodsPubMed and Google Scholar were utilized to search for articles related to our study’s focus. Search terms included “COPD exacerbation”, “air pollution”, “air quality guidelines”, “air quality standards”, “COPD morbidity and mortality”, “chronic bronchitis”, and “air pollution control” separately and in combination. We focused on articles from 1990 to 2015. We also used articles prior to 1990 if they contained relevant information. We focused on articles written in English or with an English abstract. We also used the articles in the reference lists of the identified articles.ResultsBoth short-term and long-term exposures to outdoor air pollution around the world are associated with the mortality and morbidity of COPD sufferers even at levels below the current air quality guidelines. Biomass cooking in low-income countries was clearly associated with COPD morbidity in adult nonsmoking females.ConclusionThere is a need to continue to improve the air quality guidelines. A range of intervention measures could be selected at different levels based on countries’ socioeconomic conditions to reduce the air pollution exposure and COPD burden.

African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a high-consequence foreign animal disease that has emerged along international trade routes. Owing to high lethality and resulting trade sanctions, establishment of this disease in the United States would have devastating economic consequences. ASFV can be transmitted by soft ticks in the genus Ornithodoros or directly between swine, including domestic, feral, and wild swine. Consequently, the spatial risk of ASFV establishment depends on where susceptible animals, with or without competent vectors, co-occur. We synthesized county-level historical records of soft tick occurrence, current maps of feral swine distribution, and domestic swine inventory to evaluate the risk of ASFV establishment and spillover in the United States. Areas of California, Florida, and much of the southwestern United States were classified as high risk for ASFV establishment and spillover should an introduction event occur. Our analyses indicate that California, Texas, Georgia, and Florida are high-priority candidates for proactive risk reduction strategies. Domestic swine are often produced in high-biosecurity environments, mitigating health risks associated with contacting infected hosts and vectors. However, small-scale and organic pig producers in much of the southern United States remain more vulnerable to disease emergence.

Deer keds [Lipoptena cervi (L. 1758)] are ectoparasitic and hematophagous dipterans. Originally native to Northern Europe, L. cervi records in the United States begin in 1907 when they were found in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Subsequently, they have been recorded from several states and parasitize many native cervids (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) including white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmerman 1780)]. Concurrently, blacklegged ticks [Ixodes scapularis (Say 1821)], and cases of Lyme disease are increasing in prevalence in the Northeast. The continued expansion and increase in vectors and vector-borne diseases present an opportunity for study and community outreach. We used a combination of active and passive collection techniques, using deer hunters as community scientists, to collect ectoparasites of deer in Pennsylvania over two hunting seasons (2018–2019, 2019–2020). Community scientists were recruited through Facebook groups, e-mail, and hunting clubs. In total, 1,226 L. cervi and 1,954 I. scapularis were collected from white-tailed deer harvested by the community and deer processors across both hunting seasons. The community collected 298 L. cervi and 472 I. scapularis during the 2018–2019 season. In the same season, 529 L. cervi and 577 I. scapularis were collected from deer processors. For the 2019–2020 season, 225 L. cervi and 381 I. scapularis were collected by the community and 174 L. cervi and 524 I. scapularis were collected from deer processors. Benefits and drawbacks were identified for each collection method and a combination of both methods was found to be most effective in gathering specimens without sacrificing standardization.

Background White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) host numerous ectoparasitic species in the eastern USA, most notably various species of ticks and two species of deer keds. Several pathogens transmitted by ticks to humans and other animal hosts have also been found in deer keds. Little is known about the acquisition and potential for transmission of these pathogens by deer keds; however, tick-deer ked co-feeding transmission is one possible scenario. On-host localization of ticks and deer keds on white-tailed deer was evaluated across several geographical regions of the eastern US to define tick-deer ked spatial relationships on host deer, which may impact the vector-borne disease ecology of these ectoparasites. Methods Ticks and deer keds were collected from hunter-harvested white-tailed deer from six states in the eastern US. Each deer was divided into three body sections, and each section was checked for 4 person-minutes. Differences in ectoparasite counts across body sections and/or states were evaluated using a Bayesian generalized mixed model. Results A total of 168 white-tailed deer were inspected for ticks and deer keds across the study sites. Ticks (n = 1636) were collected from all surveyed states, with Ixodes scapularis (n = 1427) being the predominant species. Counts of I. scapularis from the head and front sections were greater than from the rear section. Neotropical deer keds (Lipoptena mazamae) from Alabama and Tennessee (n = 247) were more often found on the rear body section. European deer keds from Pennsylvania (all Lipoptena cervi, n = 314) were found on all body sections of deer. Conclusions The distributions of ticks and deer keds on white-tailed deer were significantly different from each other, providing the first evidence of possible on-host niche partitioning of ticks and two geographically distinct deer ked species (L. cervi in the northeast and L. mazamae in the southeast). These differences in spatial distributions may have implications for acquisition and/or transmission of vector-borne pathogens and therefore warrant further study over a wider geographic range and longer time frame. Graphical Abstract

Deer keds (Diptera: Hippoboscidae: Lipoptena Nitzsch, 1818 and Neolipoptena Bequaert, 1942) are blood-feeding ectoparasites that primarily attack cervids and occasionally bite humans, while ticks may be found on cervids, but are more generalized in host choice. Recent detection of pathogens such as Anaplasma and Borrelia in deer keds and historical infections of tick-borne diseases provides reason to investigate these ectoparasites as vectors. However, previous methods employed to sample deer keds and ticks vary, making it difficult to standardize and compare ectoparasite burdens on cervids. Therefore, we propose a standardized protocol to collect deer keds and ticks from hunter-harvested deer, which combines previous methods of sampling, including timing of collections, dividing sections of the deer, and materials used in the collection process. We tested a three-section and a five-section sampling scheme in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and found that dividing the deer body into five sections provided more specificity in identifying where deer keds and ticks may be found on deer. Data from 2018 suggested that deer keds and ticks were found on all three sections (head, anterior, posterior), while data from 2019 suggested that more Ixodes scapularis were found on the head and deer keds were found on all body sections (head, dorsal anterior, dorsal posterior, ventral anterior, and ventral posterior). The protocol provides an efficient way to sample deer for deer keds and ticks and allows researchers to compare ectoparasite burdens across geographical regions. Furthermore, this protocol can be used to collect other ectoparasites from deer or other cervids.