In recent decades, scientists began seeing more urban transmission, outside the typical insect ranges, said Dr. Amila Heendeniya, a clinical infectious diseases physician at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and an assistant professor at University of Manitoba.
Other research, published earlier this year by scientists in France, showed the tiger mosquito can adapt to transmit chikungunya virus as effectively at 20 C as it does at 28 C as it expands its range to new regions — helping fuel the spread of a condition that can cause debilitating joint pain, which has no approved treatment or vaccine.
Typically, the climate was cooler, which means ticks have a tougher time finding suitable hosts to feed on, so they eventually starve out — but many are now hitching a ride on birds to far-flung regions of the country that were once inhospitable to either species.
Urban sprawl into farmland and ongoing human encroachment on animal habitats are also putting more people in contact with insect-carrying wildlife, compounding this simmering public health problem, Heendeniya added.
As scientists and public health laboratories are racing to monitor these complex conditions, and gauge the spread of multiple emerging diseases, another key question is whether front-line health-care workers are prepared to spot the myriad of insect-transmitted infections, which can sometimes mimic other illnesses, or turn life-threatening.
There aren’t yet approved vaccines to protect people from most insect-transmitted infections — even for major threats like Lyme disease and West Nile — so proper support or medications when patients do fall ill is crucial, several scientists stressed.
The original article contains 1,877 words, the summary contains 258 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In recent decades, scientists began seeing more urban transmission, outside the typical insect ranges, said Dr. Amila Heendeniya, a clinical infectious diseases physician at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and an assistant professor at University of Manitoba.
Other research, published earlier this year by scientists in France, showed the tiger mosquito can adapt to transmit chikungunya virus as effectively at 20 C as it does at 28 C as it expands its range to new regions — helping fuel the spread of a condition that can cause debilitating joint pain, which has no approved treatment or vaccine.
Typically, the climate was cooler, which means ticks have a tougher time finding suitable hosts to feed on, so they eventually starve out — but many are now hitching a ride on birds to far-flung regions of the country that were once inhospitable to either species.
Urban sprawl into farmland and ongoing human encroachment on animal habitats are also putting more people in contact with insect-carrying wildlife, compounding this simmering public health problem, Heendeniya added.
As scientists and public health laboratories are racing to monitor these complex conditions, and gauge the spread of multiple emerging diseases, another key question is whether front-line health-care workers are prepared to spot the myriad of insect-transmitted infections, which can sometimes mimic other illnesses, or turn life-threatening.
There aren’t yet approved vaccines to protect people from most insect-transmitted infections — even for major threats like Lyme disease and West Nile — so proper support or medications when patients do fall ill is crucial, several scientists stressed.
The original article contains 1,877 words, the summary contains 258 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!