Progress 10/01/23 to 09/30/24
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): OBJECTIVE 1: Identify factors associated with Flavivirus infections, pathogenesis, and maintenance in vectors and animal hosts to inform prevention and mitigation strategies. Identify factors associated with JEV maintenance in relevant insect vectors. Characterize susceptibility, pathogenesis, and clinical disease of JEV in swine. Characterize vector-virus-host interactions associated with JEV transmission. Sub-objective 1.A. Evaluate the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in North American domestic swine and mosquito vectors. Sub-objective 1.B. Investigate potential roles of North American feral swine and biting midges in JEV transmission. OBJECTIVE 2: Identify and develop JEV control measures in swine. Develop detection measures fit for JEV surveillance in swine. Develop JEV vaccines for swine that will prevent virus amplification. Develop control measures to protect swine from JEV-infected Culex mosquitoes. Sub-objective 2.A. Qualification of point-of-need diagnostics for Japanese encephalitis virus infections. Sub-Objective 2.B. Develop and evaluate novel vaccine platforms to prevent JEV transmission from swine. Sub-Objective 2.C. Develop control measures to protect swine from JEV- infected Culex mosquitoes. Approach (from AD-416): Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a zoonotic arthropod-borne pathogen native to Asia and the Pacific Rim, where it is a significant cause of reproductive and neonatal loss in swine and severe encephalitis and death in humans. JEV is transmitted to vertebrate hosts by infected mosquito vectors and has demonstrated an ability to emerge in new geographic regions that contain competent vectors and susceptible hosts. JEV does not currently circulate in the United States (U.S.); however, the risk of its introduction has been assessed as high (Oliveira et al. 2020). Significant research gaps exist regarding U.S. vulnerability following an introduction of JEV, including the range of native vectors and hosts capable of sustaining transmission and whether U.S. mosquitoes and livestock are vulnerable to emerging genotypes of JEV. This project will address these, and other gaps, by evaluating the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in domestic swine and mosquitoes and by investigating the potential roles of previously uncharacterized wildlife hosts and insect vectors in JEV transmission. These studies will use in vitro and in vivo infection models to investigate the effects of wild-type JE viruses on insect vectors and mammalian hosts (Objective 1). Next generation sequencing and genomic analyses will be used to study vector-virus-host interactions to determine effects that hosts and vectors have on virus populations. Additionally, measures to protect swine from JEV will be developed including molecular diagnostic assays, novel vaccines, and a spatial insect repellent device (Objective 2). The knowledge gained will be used to inform risk assessments and predictive models and help identify target points to guide diagnostic development, surveillance programs, and control strategies. Together, these measures will help strengthen the U.S. disease prevention and response framework for rapidly stopping foreign animal disease incursions to protect the health and profitability of U.S. livestock. Vector-borne disease transmission is dependent on competent vertebrate hosts and mosquito vectors to maintain and transmit the virus; disrupting the links will stop viral pathogen transmission. Objective 1a focuses on factors associated with Flavivirus infections, pathogenesis, and maintenance. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) has five genotypes and the recent emergence of genotype 4 in Australia and genotype 5 in Korea has resulted in questions about the ability of these emerging JEV genotypes to infect and replicate in North American domestic swine and mosquito vectors. To evaluate the susceptibility of North American mosquitoes for JEV competences beyond the established common genotypes 1 and 3 circulating in Asia, in vitro studies with Culex mosquito cell lines was conducted and the replication kinetics on three JEV genotypes recorded. Various virus concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 5, or mock infected with media were evaluated and at 24 hours post-infection, cultures were observed for cell death and culture supernatants were collected. Viral titers for each concentration were quantified using a standard plaque assay. Objective 1b focused on the potential hosts in North America and biting midges and their roles in transmission. Host cell lines were initiated to look for susceptibility to the emerging JEV genotypes and studies with North American feral swine cells and javelinas were initiated. Evaluation of the biting midge cell lines was also started. Objective 2 aims to develop control measures and surveillance to detect JEV on farms. Rural areas are particularly susceptible for pathogen and invasive species introductions, but they have little to no surveillance. Therefore, a sustainable method to monitor these areas using crowd sourcing was developed as part of the ARSX and ARS Insects as Food and Feed Grand Challenge projects. Intensive agricultural settings such as rice fields or animal operations tend to have large numbers of pestiferous insects which may also be disease vector insects. A novel biomass harvesting trap was invented to trap in mass the pest insects and/ or disease vectors which benefits the farmers by reducing the insect burden on crops or animals without the use of harmful pesticides. An additional benefit is these harvested insects can then be disinfected and fed as part of the daily ration to the animals as a protein supplement that is high in essential vitamins and essential amino acids. Researchers in Manhattan, Kansas, can take a small sample of the harvested insects and do metagenomic sequencing on them to look for invasive species DNA or pathogen RNA. The USDA-Biomass Harvest Trap (USDA-BHT) was designed, built, and evaluated for insect collection and use as a surveillance device. Furthermore, studies were conducted to evaluate the quality and safety of the harvested insects and use of those insects in a pilot study with poultry. Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are forecasting vesicular stomatitis virus and West Nile virus cases in the United States. ARS researchers in Manhattan, Kansas, are developing innovative deep learning methods that incorporate georeferenced disease case data, insect surveillance, and virus genetics to enhance vector-borne disease occurrence models. The improved models will contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiological factors that drive viral transmission and provide a platform for scenario-based analysis, which will be utilized to maximize intervention effectiveness, prioritize surveillance efforts, and strategically allocate resources during outbreak responses. ARS and engineers from Kansas State University are developing a disease transmission software tool (PICTUREED: Predicting Insect Contact and Transmission Using histoRical, Entomological, and Epidemiological Data) which include machine learning and neural networks to identify areas of elevated risk and forecast vector borne viral transmission. The software is currently being used in South Asia and the United States to help public health agencies with dengue transmission. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Sustainable crowdsourced pathogen and insect surveillance for rural communities. ARS researchers in Manhattan, Kansas, developed the USDA- Biomass Harvest Trap (USDA-BHT) to help rural farmers supplement traditional animal protein sources with harvested pest and disease vector insects from intensive agricultural settings where they are naturally abundant. Simultaneously the harvested insects are used by ARS to conduct insect and pathogen surveillance in rural areas via these crowdsourced insect collections. This research empowers farmers to sustainably remove pestiferous and harmful insects that damage livestock or row crops and turn them into a protein supplement that can be added to the daily rations. As part of the ARSX and Insects as Food and Feed Grand Challenge (MINIstock) projects, the insect harvest team worked with other ARS researchers throughout the country to describe the concept and benefits of insect harvesting, develop and build the USDA-BHT, describe the trap capabilities and uses, evaluate the trap as a surveillance device, define the benefits to the farmers, quantify the nutritional benefits and hazards of harvested insects, and evaluate in a pilot study the benefits of harvested insects as poultry feed. 02 Development of nanoparticle pesticides. Pest and disease vector insects develop insecticide resistance rapidly requiring the continual discovery and evaluation of new pesticides. Novel nano- and microparticle synthesis offers a means to construct environmentally safe yet targeted insecticidal particles for immature insects. ARS researchers in Manhattan, Kansas, identified target sites in disease vector insects and then synthesized biodegradable food particles with silver particle coatings to create a food that is foraged by the aquatic larval stages. The edible particles take advantage of the immature insects⿿ natural filter feeding behaviors to gather food from the environment which concentrates the particles in the insect gut. Once ingested, the particles are not easily removed by grooming or detoxified with enzymes, rather the particles degrade, and the silver quickly punches holes in the larval gut resulting in high mortality. The combination of edible particles, concentrated in the gut, and an inability to remove or degrade them results in target insect mortality at incredibly low concentrations of active ingredient (parts per billion). New particles are continually being developed and a patent for the composition of the particles is pending.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Tsafrakidou, P., Papoti, V., Giannakakis, E., Christaki, A., Miaoulis, M., Oppert, B.S., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Arsi, K., Donoghue, A.M., Vergos, E., Zinoviadou, K., Chaskopoulou, A. 2024. Mosquitoes harvested from rice- fields as alternative protein ingredient in broiler feed: Insights from the first pilot study. Journal of Economic Entomology. 1-12. https://doi. org/10.1093/jee/toae096.
- Lado, P., Rogers, D., Cernicchiaro, N., Swistek, S., Van Nest, K., Shults, P.T., Ewing, R.D., Okeson, D., Brabec, D.L., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2024. Assessment of the USDA biomass harvest trap device as an insect harvest and mosquito surveillance tool. Journal of Economic Entomology. https:// doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae095.
- Norton, A.E., Ewing, R.D., Tilley, M., Whitworth, J., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2023. Fatal food: Silver-coated grain particles display larvicidal activity in Culex quinquefasciatus. ACS Agricultural Science and Technology. 8(37):33437-33443. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c03210.
- Robinson, K., Duffield, K.R., Ramirez, J.L., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Ashworth, A. J., Jesudhasan, P., Arsi, K., Morales Ramos, J.A., Rojas, M.G., Crippen, T. L., Shanmugasundaram, R., Vaughan, M.M., Webster, C.D., Sealey, W.M., Purswell, J.L., Oppert, B.S., Neven, L.G., Cook, K.L., Donoghue, A.M. 2024. MINIstock: Model for INsect Inclusion in sustainable agriculture: USDA- ARS's research approach to advancing insect meal development and inclusion in animal diets. Journal of Economic Entomology. 117(4):1199-1209. https:// doi.org/10.1093/jee/toae130.
- Osborne, C.J., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Su, T., Silver, K.S. 2024. Variable gut pH as a potential mechanism of tolerance to Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis toxins in the biting midge Culicoides sonorensis. Pest Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.8104.
- Hudson, A.R., McGregor, B.L., Shults, P.T., England, M., Silbernegal, C., Mayo, C., Carpenter, M., Sherman, T., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2023. Orbivirus epidemiology in a changing climate. Journal of Medical Entomology. 60(6) :1221-1229. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjad098.
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Progress 10/01/22 to 09/30/23
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): OBJECTIVE 1: Identify factors associated with Flavivirus infections, pathogenesis, and maintenance in vectors and animal hosts to inform prevention and mitigation strategies. Identify factors associated with JEV maintenance in relevant insect vectors. Characterize susceptibility, pathogenesis, and clinical disease of JEV in swine. Characterize vector-virus-host interactions associated with JEV transmission. Sub-objective 1.A. Evaluate the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in North American domestic swine and mosquito vectors. Sub-objective 1.B. Investigate potential roles of North American feral swine and biting midges in JEV transmission. Approach (from AD-416): Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a zoonotic arthropod-borne pathogen native to Asia and the Pacific Rim, where it is a significant cause of reproductive and neonatal loss in swine and severe encephalitis and death in humans. JEV is transmitted to vertebrate hosts by infected mosquito vectors and has demonstrated an ability to emerge in new geographic regions that contain competent vectors and susceptible hosts. JEV does not currently circulate in the United States (U.S.); however, the risk of its introduction has been assessed as high (Oliveira et al. 2020). Significant research gaps exist regarding U.S. vulnerability following an introduction of JEV, including the range of native vectors and hosts capable of sustaining transmission and whether U.S. mosquitoes and livestock are vulnerable to emerging genotypes of JEV. This project will address these gaps by evaluating the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in domestic swine and mosquitoes and by investigating the potential roles of previously uncharacterized wildlife hosts and insect vectors in JEV transmission. These studies will use in vitro and in vivo infection models to investigate the effects of wild- type JE viruses on insect vectors and mammalian hosts (Objective 1). Additionally, next generation sequencing and genomic analyses will be used to study vector-virus-host interactions to determine effects that hosts and vectors have on virus populations. The knowledge gained will be used to inform risk assessments and predictive models and help identify target points to guide diagnostic development, surveillance programs, and control strategies. Together, these measures will help strengthen the U.S. disease prevention and response framework for rapidly stopping foreign animal disease incursions to protect the health and profitability of U.S. livestock. Objective 1. Significant progress was made on both sub-objectives. In support of Sub-objective 1A, seven strains of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), representing four of the five known genotypes have been acquired for study. Replication kinetics studies for wildtype JEV genotypes I-III (GI-III) were initiated in cell lines from four different mosquito species. Two experimental replicates have been completed for each genotype in the four cell lines. Data analysis to compare replication of the viruses in the different mosquito cell lines and between the different genotypes is ongoing. These studies will provide data regarding the potential for the different genotypes to replicate in various North American mosquitoes; thereby providing input to strengthen risk assessments. In studies focused on animal hosts, North American domestic swine were experimentally challenged with a JEV GII virus for the first time. Samples were collected to determine virus replication, seroconversion, and transcriptomics. Analysis is ongoing to measure the amount and kinetics of virus distribution and shedding, virus pathogenesis, and development of successful immune responses. This information will help scientists assess whether GII viruses may be a threat to U.S. swine in the event of a JEV incursion. In a separate project, swine were challenged with an attenuated vaccine strain of JEV to generate reference sera for immune studies and diagnostic development. The reference sera were determined to have high antibody titers as measured by plaque reduction neutralization tests. These samples will serve as a useful resource for validating protein expression and other projects moving forward. In a third project, ARS scientists demonstrated experimental feeding of two species of Culex mosquitoes on pigs for the first time. Mosquitoes of both species fed to repletion with probing sites evident on both shaved and haired skin of nursery piglets. These results have implications for mosquito-borne infectious diseases, as well as for pest control efforts by producers. Samples were also collected to investigate whether immune and inflammatory responses were induced by the mosquito feedings. In support of Sub-objective 1B, collaborators at Texas Tech University collected samples from feral swine which will be tested for flaviviruses to establish a baseline for surveillance and to pre-screen the samples for planned collaborative research projects. JEV can infect a wide range of animals, and the full host range is not known. West Nile virus, a closely related flavivirus, has been known to infect North American white- tailed deer (WTD). Additionally, WTD have been known to act as reservoirs for other zoonotic viruses, notably including SARS-CoV-2. ARS scientists performed two independent experiments to examine the in vitro susceptibility of two types of primary WTD cells to an attenuated strain of JEV. Virus was observed to replicate in both cell types, in some cases to high titers, indicating that additional studies of the susceptibility of WTD to JEV may be warranted to determine whether they could have a role in the maintenance of JEV in nature. Additional investigations into the host range for JEV in North American wildlife were performed by collaborators at Colorado State University. Pythons and leopard frogs were challenged with the four genotypes of JEV, and blood was collected to detect viremia at regular intervals post-inoculation. Viremia was detected at low levels for multiple animals, but the magnitude did not appear compatible with reservoir or amplifying host function. Clinical disease was not observed in any snake, however apparent neurologic disease was observed in two frogs and is being followed up with additional testing. Samples have also been collected for viral genome analysis. In collaboration with researchers at The Pennsylvania State University, chimeric viruses were created using mosquito-borne and tick-borne flaviviruses to identify viral determinants important for flavivirus infection and replication within different vector/host species. Initial experiments demonstrated that exchanging the structural proteins did not prevent entry, suggesting that non-structural proteins may play a more critical role of flavivirus infection in mammalian hosts. In addition, the data from these studies will identify possible vaccine candidates for emerging flaviviruses. As part of separate programs with two commercial partners, major JEV proteins have been expressed for use towards the development of new vaccines and diagnostic tests. A third commercial partner has developed new vaccine constructs which have undergone initial in vivo testing. In collaboration with researchers from Kansas State University, a workflow has been developed to characterize virus population genetics of JEV. Flaviviruses exist as heterogenous populations composed of groups or individual viruses with distinct genetics. Historically, these populations were represented by a single consensus sequence. Consensus sequences do not accurately describe the population as they are created by determining the most frequent nucleotide at each site. The importance of evaluating the individual components of viral populations is demonstrated when a minority virus quickly adapts to a selective pressure or environmental change allowing that virus to replicate more efficiently and enhancing the spread of the virus. A member of the viral population capable of evading the selective pressure is difficult to determine from a consensus sequence. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Realtime vector-borne disease and mosquito vector forecasting. Predicting Insect Contact and Transmission Using historical Entomological and Environmental data (PICTUREE) is an outbreak forecasting tool developed by Kansas State University engineers and ARS researchers in Manhattan, Kansas. The tool was evaluated to forecast case data during dengue outbreaks in Nepal and Bangladesh and mosquito abundance and distributions in Southern California. The case forecasting tool takes human case data and uses various algorithms (ensemble Kalman filters, particle filters, and deep neural networks) to calculate the number of cases one, two, and three weeks into the future. This allows health care and emergency response workers to preposition materials and allocate equipment to areas. It also informs policy makers if the outbreak is continuing to grow or if it is declining. Ultimately it may be used to determine the cost effectiveness of management methods based on actual cases versus predicted cases. Similarly, the algorithms are being used to predict mosquito abundance in California for three mosquito control districts in the absence of viruses. This confirms managements actions and improves their mosquito control efficiency. 02 Construction of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) peptide library. Japanese encephalitis is a significant cause of reproductive loss and neonatal death in swine in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Cytotoxic T- lymphocytes (CTL) are cells that are important for cell-mediated immune responses to viral infections. Little is known about the role that CTL play during JEV infections of swine. To find regions of JEV proteins that can induce CTL in swine, Kansas State University scientists used the vaccine strain of JEV to construct and validate expression constructs for the 10 JEV genes that comprise the virus proteome as part of a collaborative project with ARS researchers in Manhattan, Kansas. They screened the expressed proteins to identify peptide motifs that bind strongly to alleles of the Swine Leukocyte Antigen [SLA]-I complex region of the pig genome and identified multiple JEV proteins that contain putative CTL epitopes. They used the information to generate a library of 120 synthetic peptides which will be used to evaluate JEV antigen-specific T-cell responses. This resource will enable them to better understand swine immune responses and will inform the design of vaccines that can stimulate host CTL responses to prevent and mitigate disease.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Yi, C., Vajdi, A., Ferdousi, T., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Scoglio, C. 2023. PICTUREE⿿Aedes: A web application for dengue data visualization and case prediction. Pathogens. 12(6):771. https://doi.org/10.3390/ pathogens12060771.
- Holcomb, K.M., Mathis, S., Staples, J.E., Fischer, M., Barker, C.M., Beard, C.B., Nett, R.J., Keyel, A.C., Marcantonio, M., Childs, M.L., Gorris, M.E. , Rochlin, I., Hamins-Puertolas, M., Ray, E.L., Uelmen, J.A., Defelice, N., Freedman, A.S., Hollingsworth, B.D., Das, P., Osthus, D., Humphreys Jr, J. M., Nova, N., Mordecai, E.A., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Kirk, D., Kramer, L., Harris, M.J., Kain, M.P., Reed, E.M., Johansson, M.A. 2023. Evaluation of an open forecasting challenge to assess skill of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease prediction. Parasites & Vectors. 16(1):11. https:// doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05630-y.
- Rochlin, I., White, G., Reissen, N., Swanson, D.A., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Chura, M., Healy, K., Faraji, A. 2022. Laboratory evaluation of sugar alcohols for control of mosquitoes and other medically important flies. Scientific Reports. 12(1). Article 13763. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598- 022-15825-z.
- Ewing, R.D., Brokesh, B., Shults, P.T., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2023. Are you still using 6-volt batteries for your insect traps? American Mosquito Control Association. 39(1):61-64. https://doi.org/10.2987/22-7061.
- Cernicchiaro, N., Oliveira, A., Cohnstaedt, L.W. 2022. Epidemiology of infectious diseases. In: McVey, S., Kennedy, M., Chengappa, M.M., Wilkes, R., editors. Veterinary Microbiology. 4th edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. p. 818-828. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119650836.ch72.
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Progress 10/01/21 to 09/30/22
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): OBJECTIVE 1: Identify factors associated with Flavivirus infections, pathogenesis, and maintenance in vectors and animal hosts to inform prevention and mitigation strategies. � Identify factors associated with JEV maintenance in relevant insect vectors. � Characterize susceptibility, pathogenesis, and clinical disease of JEV in swine. � Characterize vector-virus-host interactions associated with JEV transmission. Sub-objective 1.A. Evaluate the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in North American domestic swine and mosquito vectors. Sub-objective 1.B. Investigate potential roles of North American feral swine and biting midges in JEV transmission. Approach (from AD-416): Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a zoonotic arthropod-borne pathogen native to Asia and the Pacific Rim, where it is a significant cause of reproductive and neonatal loss in swine and severe encephalitis and death in humans. JEV is transmitted to vertebrate hosts by infected mosquito vectors and has demonstrated an ability to emerge in new geographic regions that contain competent vectors and susceptible hosts. JEV does not currently circulate in the United States (U.S.); however, the risk of its introduction has been assessed as high (Oliveira et al. 2020). Significant research gaps exist regarding U.S. vulnerability following an introduction of JEV, including the range of native vectors and hosts capable of sustaining transmission and whether U.S. mosquitoes and livestock are vulnerable to emerging genotypes of JEV. This project will address these gaps by evaluating the ability of an emerging JEV genotype to infect and replicate in domestic swine and mosquitoes and by investigating the potential roles of previously uncharacterized wildlife hosts and insect vectors in JEV transmission. These studies will use in vitro and in vivo infection models to investigate the effects of wild- type JE viruses on insect vectors and mammalian hosts (Objective 1). Additionally, next generation sequencing and genomic analyses will be used to study vector-virus-host interactions to determine effects that hosts and vectors have on virus populations. The knowledge gained will be used to inform risk assessments and predictive models and help identify target points to guide diagnostic development, surveillance programs, and control strategies. Together, these measures will help strengthen the U.S. disease prevention and response framework for rapidly stopping foreign animal disease incursions to protect the health and profitability of U.S. livestock. This report is for the new project, 3022-32000-025-000D, entitled �Japanese Encephalitis Virus Prevention and Mitigation Strategies�, which began in January 2022. This project was preceded by project 3022-32000- 023-000D. For information on that expired project, please see the final report for 3022-32000-023-000D. In the partial year this project has been active, progress has been made on its single Objective. Nine new collaborations were formed with six institutions to directly support or complement the project Objective, including six collaborations with U.S. universities, one with a commercial partner, and two with international partners. New personnel were hired, filling critical science vacancies for the Research Leader (Supervisory Microbiologist) and Clinical Veterinary Medical Officer, as well as several important support staff vacancies. New biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) research spaces were identified, and the applicable regulatory permits and approvals were successfully acquired to initiate research in these spaces. Three new scientific staff members completed the rigorous training required to perform work in the biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) spaces at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas where much of this project�s research is currently conducted. As prerequisites to beginning research on the new project, new standard operating procedures (SOP) have been developed, and new protocols have been submitted to, and approved by, the Kansas State University Institutional Biosafety Committee and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 If you cannot beat them, eat them. Insects as animal and human food is coming closer to reality each year. Insects are a high-quality protein source that are much easier and cheaper to raise than traditional farm animals. ARS researchers at Manhattan, Kansas, and Kansas State University collaborators have been building giant suction traps to harvest insects to be used as animal feed from backyard farms and large- scale commercial livestock operations. These traps are economical to produce and made from parts found in a junkyard or a local hardware store. This innovation won the 2021 prize in the ARS high-risk, high- reward research funding competition, ARSX, and was evaluated on chicken farms. The trap was able to collect kilograms of house flies which, once disinfected, can be fed back to the chickens. These massive suction traps will reduce the use of insecticides and improve animal health by removing nuisance and biting insects while also producing a protein source for animals. But greater interest is in the sampled insects which can be used for pathogen surveillance. A small sample of collected insects are processed to survey for pathogens in the surrounding area. Early detection of circulating pathogens is an early warning system prior to the onset of clinical cases or an outbreak in the farmed animals. 02 PICTUREE: Predicting Insect Contact and Transmission Using histoRical Entomological and Environmental data. PICTUREE is an outbreak forecasting tool developed by ARS researchers at Manhattan, Kansas, and Kansas State University. The tool helps planners with decision support to optimize provisioning and alignment of resources based on estimated risk for arthropod-transmitted pathogens. Current practices for vector- borne diseases are reactionary and retroactive for human health protection, but PICTUREE will provide a proactive and adaptive approach to preventing pathogens from becoming a health threat. The tool uses case data, rainfall, temperature, elevation, ecoregions, and disease vector life history stage models to predict when and where there is elevated risk of mosquito transmitted pathogens. The model makes forecasts using network-based computational models, ensemble Kalman filters, particle filters, and deep neural networks. These methods are combined to make an ensemble risk assessment. The predictions were used by the Department of Defense to determine when and where to start and stop mosquito surveillance, which saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars. 03 Molecular tools for identifying cryptic disease vector species. Cryptic species, or physically similar looking insects of different species, are a real problem when managing insect populations below a disease transmission threshold. When the insect species look similar, it is difficult to determine how many of the disease vector species are transmitting pathogens in the wild. ARS researchers at Manhattan, Kansas, and Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, developed molecular tools to differentiate vector and non-vector species. A consequence of these studies was that the traditional three species of the vector complex was elevated to five species, one of which was the discovery of a previously undescribed species. These new methods to identify the geographic range and identify of collected insects allows for more accurate models of species distributions and better explains the patterns of disease outbreaks throughout the central United States.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Humphreys Jr, J.M., Young, K.M., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Haney, K., Peters, D.C. 2021. Vector surveillance, host species richness, and demographic factors as neuroinvasive West Nile Disease risk factors. Viruses and Bacteriophages. 13:5. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13050934.
- Ferdousi, T., Cohnstaedt, L.W., Scoglio, C. 2021. A windowed correlation based feature selection method to improve time series prediction of dengue fever cases. IEEE Access. 9:141210-141222. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS. 2021.3120309.
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