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Science Daily— A Mayo Clinic researcher has discovered a target site within malaria-carrying mosquitoes that could be used to develop pesticides that are toxic to the Anopheles gambiae mosquito and other mosquito species. It would not affect humans and other mammals. If supported by further studies, the findings could offer a safer and more effective control of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. Yuan-Ping Pang, Ph.D., a chemist and expert in computer-aided molecular design at Mayo Clinic, identified two unique amino acid residues called cysteine (286) and arginine (339). These exist in three mosquito species and the German cockroach. Dr. Pang's findings are significant because the residues could potentially be used as a target site for a pesticide that would incapacitate only insects that carry these residues, which do not exist in mammals. The findings appear in the current issue of PLoS ONE, a new, peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Public Library of Scienc...

By Shayla Ashmore Lassen County Agriculture Commissioner Ken Smith won another state grant to conduct mosquito abatement in 2007 to control deadly West Nile Virus. “We’re hopeful that maybe with the larviciding and the mosquito fish, that perhaps Susanville might not warrant (spraying) and it would remain in the outlying areas which are so heavily infested with the West Nile.” WNV is now a threat all over the country, Smith told the Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 19 meeting, with 270 human cases reported in California last year.“ Some fairly close by, Butte County reported 31, Tehama County 3, Shasta County 4, Modoc County 2 and over in Nevada, it’s not an exact number, but around 15,” Smith said. The median age of those who contracted WNV was 50. “Which means half the people who contracted West Nile Virus were over 50 and half were under 50,” he said. “Previously most people assumed that West Nile Virus was a condition that would affect mostly elderly people, but the median age...

By Khalil Goodman There is only one mosquito that can transmit malaria in Barbados and thankfully it is only found in one area on the island. The mosquito, Anopheles aquasalis is one species of the 400 variants of the Anopheles mosquito. Of these only 40 can transmit the four different species of parasites known to cause malaria. Ronald Chapman, Environmental Health Specialist with the Epidemiology Department in the Ministry of Health, explained yesterday that the Anopheles aquasalis prefers to live in water with a higher than average salt density in the water. Thus, for years they have only lived in the brackish water of the Graeme Hall Swamp. Referencing Jamaica where over 100 cases were reported in the last month, Chapman noted that it is unclear what type of anopheles mosquito has caused the outbreak there, but noted that the species Anopheles gambiae is the type that is most known to transmit the dangerous malaria parasite plasmodium falciparum. He disclosed that the few cases of ...