The impact of insects in disease transmission cannot be underestimated. Through their bites they are responsible for spreading some of the worst diseases in the world. Anopheline mosquitoes transmit malaria, which kills more than five million people each year, most of them children and babies. Culex mosquitoes transmit human encephalites (e.g. St. Louis encephalitis, which affected the whole of New York last summer). Midges transmit viruses such as bluetongue virus, which is killing cattle and sheep in Southern Europe just as devastatingly as foot and mouth disease in the UK. Plant diseases are also transmitted by insects. Greenfly (aphids), for example, suck the plant sap and pass on plant diseases, which may kill our crops and reduce crop yields.
The symposium (running in the mornings) is complemented by the Royal Entomological Society Annual Meeting (in the afternoon) which has linked sessions looking at topics such as Trapping for Vector control, Insect-Plant Interactions, Medical and Veterinary Entomology and in addition forest entomology interests are represented by a programme organised by the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) looking at the Dynamics of Forest Insect Populations.
ORGANISERS
Dr A J Mordue(Luntz) and Dr P Billingsley
http://www.royensoc.demon.co.uk
All speakers are available at the conference this week. A synopsis of several topics follows:
New visions for insect vector control
NEW PROSPECTS FOR CONTROL OF PLANT AND ANIMAL PATHOGEN VECTORS
John Pickett, Peter Billingsley
IACR-Rothamsted, Rothamsted, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ
Insects are vectors of both plant and animal diseases. A new vision of insect vector control may be realised by exploiting those natural repellents or stress-related volatile chemical signals released from plants or from animals that provide messages of ‘non-host’ to the vector.
Blood sucking insects manipulate the host to their own and the pathogen’s advantage
SALIVARY MODIFICATION OF HOST RESPONSES AT THE HOST-PARASITE INTERFACE
Donald E. Champagne, Sudesh Kumar, Heather Wasserman, and Katya Ledin
Department of Entomology and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases
University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Why do some people react so badly to bites from blood-sucking insects or bugs? The human skin response to bites is modified by the vector through its spit, to keep blood flow and hence vector feeding and disease transmission maximal. The host immune response is also suppressed giving rise to effects, which may last more than a week after biting.
Vaccines against malaria acting via the mosquito vector
PHAGE ANTIBODY LIBRARIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MALARIA TRANSMISSION-BLOCKING VACCINES
P.D. Drew1, A.J.R. Porter2, and P.F. Billingsley1
1Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK
2Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
Anti-vector vaccines are a new approach to controlling disease rather than drugs or the use of insecticides to kill the vector. Such vaccines will provide the host with antibodies to the mosquito, which are taken up on biting. Decreasing the lifespan of the mosquito would have a great effect on transmission of the parasite resulting in reduced incidence of malaria. Antibodies to mosquito midgut proteins are presently being screened for suitable vaccine production.
A vector borne virus of sheep and cattle with some parallels to foot and mouth
BLUETONGUE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN (1998-2001)
P.S. Mellor
OIE and Community Reference Centre for Bluetongue, Institute for Animal Health, Pirbright Laboratory, Ash Rd., Pirbright, Working Surrey, GU24 0NF, UK
Midges are vectors of blue tongue virus (BTV) which is an OIE LIST A animal disease. “Blue-tongue has killed more than 250,000 sheep in Southern Europe since 1998, has entered countries which have never experienced the disease before and has spread further north than ever before. It is vital we know the basis of these changes and whether it poses a risk to Northern European Countries” said Dr. Philip Mellor.
The current outbreak will be described, some of the problems faced by the authorities of affected countries will be explained, and certain new and worrying developments in the epidemiology of the disease highlighted.
Repellents against midges
FIELD EVALUATION OF THE REPELLENT KBR 3023 (BAYER) AGAINST THE SCOTTISH BITING MIDGE, CULICOIDES IMPUNCTATUS
A.J. Mordue (Luntz), S. Carpenter, K. Eyres, I. McEndrick, L. Smith, J. Turner, and W. Mordue
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
Would you like to experience a rate of 40,000 landings per hour on your forearm? Valiant volunteers put themselves forward to test a new class of chemical repellent against the Scottish biting midge. More than 8h protection from bites was achieved at the recommended dose rate.
Insects as models for human diseases
DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: A MODEL FOR ALL REASONS
Julian A. T. Dow and Shireen A. Davies
IBLS Molecular Genetics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6NU, UK
“Insects have more in common with humans at the cellular level than people realise” said Prof. Julian Dow. The genetic power gained from mapping the fruitfly (Drosophila) genome together with an in depth knowledge of how insect tissues and organs work can be used to great relevance not only for insect biology but also for understanding human health and disease.
If you would like to see the full abstracts from any of the topics listed above, please contact Angela Begg, University of Aberdeen on: (01224) 272960.
Further Information:
Angela Begg, Media Relations Officer, University of Aberdeen, Tel. (01224) 272960
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.