Wildlife photo: Is this the world's most beautiful mosquito?

You can't help but marvel at its beauty. This female mosquito, with its fabulous furry legs and iridescent shimmer, is a total stunner.

It's one of the Sabethes species found in central and South America.

What a shame this particular specimen also happens to be an important carrier of tropical disease.

The picture was taken by Gil Wizen from Ontario, Canada. His work is highly commended in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

To read more on this story, click here: Wildlife photo: Is this the world's most beautiful mosquito?

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Dog Heartworm is Risky to Treat, But Prevention is Key

While heartworm disease is certainly a serious health risk, the good news is that it is also one of the most easily prevented conditions. Monthly heartworm preventives come in convenient oral forms (such as Heartgard Plus or Sentinel) or easily-applied topical applications (such as Revolution).

It is recommend using a heartworm preventive every month year-round. In the long run, maintaining your dog’s heartworm protection is money well spent.

The fact is, heartworm infection is still an extremely serious health concern for your dog, and the risk of it is widespread.

The American Heartworm Society notes that adult heartworm disease has been reported in dogs in all 50 states. Adult heartworm disease can cause severe damage to the heart, lungs and other organs, and can eventually lead to death. While it is true that there is a treatment for adult heartworm disease, the treatment can be costly, requires hospitalization, and is not without the risk of side effects.

The Heartworm Life Cycle depends on the mosquito. When the insect bites an infected dog, it takes in tiny
heartworm larvae (microfilariae) that have been circulating in the animal’s bloodstream. Once inside the mosquito, the microfilariae mature into infective larvae, eventually migrating to the mosquito’s mouthparts, to be transmitted when the insect bites another animal.

In the new host, the larvae continue to develop, eventually migrating through the bloodstream to the lungs, heart and associated vessels, where they cause inflammation  and obstruct blood flow. As the larvae become adult worms, they mate and produce more microfilariae, continuing the cycle. The heartworm life cycle, from larva to adult worm, generally takes about 6 months.

If a dog develops heartworm infection, the drug Immiticide (melarsomine hydrochloride) is the only one that is approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult heartworm disease in dogs. Immiticide is given by deep injection into the muscles of the back, usually in two or three doses over the course of about a month.

As the drug works, dead and dying worms in the heart and lungs can cause an inflammatory reaction in the body. While Immiticide is better tolerated by the body than the previously used drug Caparsolate, the dog must still remain hospitalized during treatment to be observed for the development of possible side effects.

After treatment the dog's activity level must be quite limited to reduce the chance of pulmonary thromboembolism (obstruction of blood flow in the arteries of the lungs, caused by dead heartworms), which can lead to death.

Dogs should be confined to a crate and leash walked outside to eliminate only. Heartworm positive dogs must be exercise restricted from the time of diagnosis until four weeks after the final Immiticide injection.

Follow-up diagnostic testing may be needed after treatment, also. Although treatment will kill the adult heartworms, it cannot repair any damage that they may have done prior to treatment.

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Researchers Find A Preserved 12-Million-Year-Old Praying Mantis

We all remember the scene in the original Jurassic Park where dinosaur DNA was removed from a prehistoric mosquito stuck in amber. It’s perhaps the one thing that we all think about when we see pictures of insects stuck in amber – at least that is where my mind always goes to.

This one piece of amber doesn’t have a mosquito in it, but a praying mantis. The piece of amber was quite translucent and pale yellow in color, so it perfectly showed off the 12-million-year-old that was perfectly preserved inside.

To read more on this story, click here: Researchers Find A Preserved 12-Million-Year-Old Praying Mantis

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First COVID-19, Now Mosquitoes: Bracing for Bug-Borne Ills

The CDC has offered states additional help with mosquito testing this season as the coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed state public health offices

Sophia Garabedian had been dealing with a persistent fever and painful headache when her parents found her unresponsive in her bed one morning last fall.

Doctors ultimately diagnosed the then-5-year-old Sudbury, Massachusetts, resident with eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but severe mosquito-borne virus that causes brain swelling.

Garabedian survived the potentially fatal virus after about a month in Boston hospitals, but her parents say her ordeal and ongoing recovery should be a warning as people take advantage of the outdoors this summer.

To read more on this story, click here: First COVID-19, Now Mosquitoes: Bracing for Bug-Borne Ills

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Sambo Fish: Eat Mosquitos’ Larva Before the Insects Mature and Carry the Zika Virus

With the Zika virus spreading toward the United States, threatening pregnant mothers and the 2016 Olympics, aid workers have placed hope in a familiar fish.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Virginia-based non-profit Operation Blessing helped avert an outbreak of the West Nile virus in New Orleans by supplying abandoned swimming pools full of water – ideal breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitos – with fish that feast on mosquito larva. 

Now the group hopes to halt the spread of the Zika virus in Central America by breeding and distributing fish that can eat mosquitos’ larva before the insects mature and carry the disease, which has been linked to an epidemic of birth defects in Brazil and spread quickly throughout Latin America.

Based out of Mexico’s Acapulco area, Operation Blessing is working in El Salvador to supply a mosquito-eating fish called Sambo—one native to the area—that families can place in sinks and containers where drinking water is stored, CBN reports.

El Salvador’s Vice Minister of Health, Eduardo Espinoza, has hailed the Sambo fish as a successful method in reducing the virus, and multiple groups have distributed it nationwide.

Operation Blessing plans to curb the disease in Mexico by working with its government to distribute a similar fish native to that country called Gambuja.

The non-profit is also in talks with the government of Honduras, according to CBN, an affiliate of the non-profit.

Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing, said the fish provide a uniquely effective option for combatting diseases known to be carried by the mosquitos.

"Mosquito bed nets are not as effective as they were for most because the Aedes Aegypti sleeps at night,” he told the network. “They don't bite often at night.”

In the U.S., health officials in several states have confirmed human cases of the virus, none acquired locally. The disease can also spread through blood transfusions and sex. 

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Zoonotic Diseases: A Disease That Can Be Passed Between Animals and Humans

A zoonotic disease is a disease that can be passed between animals and humans. Zoonotic diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi. These diseases are very common. Scientists estimate that more than 6 out of every 10 infectious diseases in humans are spread from animals.

Many people interact with animals in their daily lives. We raise animals for food and keep them in our homes as pets. We might come into close contact with animals at a county fair or petting zoo or encounter wildlife when we clear wooded land for new construction.

Because of these interactions, it’s important to be aware of the different ways people can get zoonotic diseases. These can include:

• Coming into contact with the saliva, blood, urine, or feces of an infected animal
• Being bitten by a tick or mosquito (often called a “vector”)
• Eating or drinking something unsafe (such as unpasteurized milk, undercooked meat, or unwashed fruits and vegetables that are contaminated with feces from an infected animal)

Luckily, there are many ways you can protect yourself and your family from zoonotic diseases. You can:

• Always wash hands and follow proper hygiene
• Handle food safely
• Prevent bites from mosquitoes and ticks
• Know the simple things you can do to stay safe around your pets
• Be aware of zoonotic diseases both at home and when you travel

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What You Need to Know About the Mosquito-Borne Disease Ravaging the Caribbean

If you’re traveling to the Caribbean anytime soon, bring the DEET. Chikungunya, a virulent mosquito-borne illness with no known cure is sweeping the islands. The disease is similar to dengue and causes extreme muscle pain that can last months or even years; it has been fatal in rare cases.

Historically, chikungunya (pronounced chik-en-GUN-ya), which was first discovered in Tanzania in 1952, has been more prevalent in Africa and Asia. Saint Martin was the first location in the Western Hemisphere to report cases of the disease in December 2013. In recent months it has spread across the region, with over 10,000 cases on islands like Guadeloupe and Martinique. Even Tony Saint Bart’s hasn’t been spared. There have also been isolated cases as far away as Florida and Venezuela.

To read more on this story, click here: What You Need to Know About the Mosquito-Borne Disease Ravaging the Caribbean FOLLOW US!

Can Cats Get Heartworm? Yes, They Can

You may have thought heartworm disease only affects dogs, and it’s true that the infection is less common in cats. The cat is not a natural host for the heartworm parasite, Dirofilaria immitis, and so the heartworm is not likely to complete its entire life cycle. That means that fewer and smaller worms survive, and many do not reach a cat’s heart. The worms that do survive—and the resulting immune reaction that the cat’s body sets up to kill the developing worms, can cause severe health problems.


What Is Heartworm?

Spread by infected mosquitoes, heartworm is increasingly being recognized as an underlying cause of health problems in domestic cats. Despite its name, heartworm primarily causes lung disease in cats. It is an important concern for any cat owner living in areas densely populated by mosquitoes, and prevention methods should be discussed with a veterinarian.


How Are Heartworms Transmitted To A Cat?

The life cycle of the heartworm is complex and requires two host animals in order to complete it. Heartworms require the mosquito as an intermediate host and as many as 30 species of mosquitoes can act as this host and transmit heartworms. Mosquitoes ingest immature heartworm larvae, called microfilariae, by feeding on an infected cat or, more commonly, an infected dog. The microfilariae develop further for 10 to 30 days in the mosquito's gut and then enter its mouthparts.

When an infected mosquito bites a cat, it injects infective larvae into the cat. The larvae migrate and mature

for several months, ending up in the right side of the heart and the pulmonary arteries.

There they mature into adult heartworms capable of reproduction about six months from the time they enter the cat. Shortly thereafter, at around eight months after infection, they begin to produce a new crop of microfilaria that will live in the cat's blood for about one month. Cats are resistant hosts, and few circulating microfilaria are generally found.

How Can Heartworm In Cats Be Treated?

There are currently no products in the United States approved for treating feline heartworm infection. The good news is that many heartworm-infected cats are able to fight the infection themselves, and can be monitored with radiographs every few months, while waiting out the worms’ lifespan. If an infected cat shows symptoms of lung disease, the cat can be given a cortisone-like medication as needed. Medication can also be given to help control coughing and vomiting.

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