Proceedings from the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium "Dr. Roberto Navarro López" on Emerging Zoonotic Disease and Arboviruses: Commenting Insights and Research Findings.

Zoonotic pathogens such as arboviruses, arenaviruses, filoviruses, coronaviruses, highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) viruses, vesiculoviruses, and many others are emerging and reemerging worldwide, jeopardizing global veterinary and public health. Parasitic diseases such as visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis (), myiasis, and river blindness () are also paramount for public health in the Americas and elsewhere. In the fall 2024, a group of experts convened in Chiapas, Mexico, for the Fourth Mesoamerican Symposium "Dr.

Aedes albopictus saliva contains a richer microbial community than the midgut.

Background: Past findings demonstrate that arthropods can egest midgut microbiota into the host skin leading to dual colonization of the vertebrate host with pathogens and saliva microbiome. A knowledge gap exists on how the saliva microbiome interacts with the pathogen in the saliva. To fill this gap, we need to first define the microbial composition of mosquito saliva.

Surveillance and Genetic Analysis of Jamestown Canyon Virus in New York State: 2001-2022.

Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) (Peribunyavirdae; Orthobunyavirus) is a mosquito-borne pathogen endemic to North America. The genome is composed of three segmented negative-sense RNA fragments designated as small, medium, and large. Jamestown Canyon virus is an emerging threat to public health, and infection in humans can cause severe neurological diseases, including encephalitis and meningitis.

A Prototype-Pathogen Approach for the Development of Flavivirus Countermeasures.

Flaviviruses are a genus within the Flaviviridae family of positive-strand RNA viruses and are transmitted principally through mosquito and tick vectors. These viruses are responsible for hundreds of millions of human infections worldwide per year that result in a range of illnesses from self-limiting febrile syndromes to severe neurotropic and viscerotropic diseases and, in some cases, death. A vaccine against the prototype flavivirus, yellow fever virus, has been deployed for 85 years and is highly effective.

Dynamics of eastern equine encephalitis virus during the 2019 outbreak in the Northeast United States.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) causes a rare but severe disease in horses and humans and is maintained in an enzootic transmission cycle between songbirds and Culiseta melanura mosquitoes. In 2019, the largest EEEV outbreak in the United States for more than 50 years occurred, centered in the Northeast. To explore the dynamics of the outbreak, we sequenced 80 isolates of EEEV and combined them with existing genomic data.

Phylogeographic reconstruction of the emergence and spread of Powassan virus in the northeastern United States.

Powassan virus is an emerging tick-borne virus of concern for public health, but very little is known about its transmission patterns and ecology. Here, we expanded the genomic dataset by sequencing 279 Powassan viruses isolated from ticks from the northeastern United States. Our phylogeographic reconstructions revealed that Powassan virus lineage II was likely introduced or emerged from a relict population in the Northeast between 1940 and 1975.

Dynamics of Eastern equine encephalitis virus during the 2019 outbreak in the Northeast United States.

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) causes a rare but severe disease in horses and humans, and is maintained in an enzootic transmission cycle between songbirds and mosquitoes. In 2019, the largest EEEV outbreak in the United States for more than 50 years occurred, centered in the Northeast. To explore the dynamics of the outbreak, we sequenced 80 isolates of EEEV and combined them with existing genomic data.

Evaluation of an open forecasting challenge to assess skill of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease prediction.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is the leading cause of mosquito-borne illness in the continental USA. WNV occurrence has high spatiotemporal variation, and current approaches to targeted control of the virus are limited, making forecasting a public health priority. However, little research has been done to compare strengths and weaknesses of WNV disease forecasting approaches on the national scale.

Bourbon Virus Transmission, New York, USA.

In July 2019, Bourbon virus RNA was detected in an Amblyomma americanum tick removed from a resident of Long Island, New York, USA. Tick infection and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serosurvey results demonstrate active transmission in New York, especially Suffolk County, emphasizing a need for surveillance anywhere A. americanum ticks are reported.

Identification and characterization of novel lineage 1 Powassan virus strains in New York State.

Powassan virus (POWV, family ) is a reemerging tick-borne virus endemic in North America and Russia. In 1997, a POWV-like agent was isolated from in New England and determined to be genetically distinct from the original POWV isolate. This revealed the existence of two lineages: lineage 1, prototype Powassan virus (POWV-1) and lineage 2, deer tick virus (DTV).

Adaptive evolution of West Nile virus facilitated increased transmissibility and prevalence in New York State.

West Nile virus (WNV; Flavivirus, Flaviviridae) was introduced to New York State (NYS) in 1999 and rapidly expanded its range through the continental United States (US). Apart from the displacement of the introductory NY99 genotype with the WN02 genotype, there has been little evidence of adaptive evolution of WNV in the US. WNV NY10, characterized by shared amino acid substitutions R1331K and I2513M, emerged in 2010 coincident with increased WNV cases in humans and prevalence in mosquitoes.

Cellular and immunological mechanisms influence host-adapted phenotypes in a vector-borne microparasite.

Predicting pathogen emergence and spillover risk requires understanding the determinants of a pathogens' host range and the traits involved in host competence. While host competence is often considered a fixed species-specific trait, it may be variable if pathogens diversify across hosts. Balancing selection can lead to maintenance of pathogen polymorphisms (multiple-niche-polymorphism; MNP).

and Cache Valley virus: a new threat for virus transmission in New York State.

We report surveillance results of Cache Valley virus (CVV; , ) from 2017 to 2020 in New York State (NYS). Infection rates were calculated using the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method by year, region, and mosquito species. The highest infection rates were identified among spp.

Role of Anopheles Mosquitoes in Cache Valley Virus Lineage Displacement, New York, USA.

Cache Valley virus (CVV) is a mosquitoborne virus that infects livestock and humans. We report results of surveillance for CVV in New York, USA, during 2000-2016; full-genome analysis of selected CVV isolates from sheep, horse, humans, and mosquitoes from New York and Canada; and phenotypic characterization of selected strains. We calculated infection rates by using the maximum-likelihood estimation method by year, region, month, and mosquito species.

Zika virus and temperature modulate Elizabethkingia anophelis in Aedes albopictus.

Background: Vector-borne pathogens must survive and replicate in the hostile environment of an insect's midgut before successful dissemination. Midgut microbiota interfere with pathogen infection by activating the basal immunity of the mosquito and by synthesizing pathogen-inhibitory metabolites.

Methods: The goal of this study was to assess the influence of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and increased temperature on Aedes albopictus midgut microbiota.

Experimental Evolution of West Nile Virus at Higher Temperatures Facilitates Broad Adaptation and Increased Genetic Diversity.

West Nile virus (WNV, , Flavivirus) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus introduced to North America in 1999. Since 1999, the Earth's average temperature has increased by 0.6 °C.

Heartland Virus Transmission, Suffolk County, New York, USA.

During 2018, Heartland virus RNA was detected in an Amblyomma americanum tick removed from a resident of Suffolk County, New York, USA. The person showed seroconversion. Tick surveillance and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serosurveys showed widespread distribution in Suffolk County, emphasizing a need for disease surveillance anywhere A.

Host tropism determination by convergent evolution of immunological evasion in the Lyme disease system.

Pathogens possess the ability to adapt and survive in some host species but not in others-an ecological trait known as host tropism. Transmitted through ticks and carried mainly by mammals and birds, the Lyme disease (LD) bacterium is a well-suited model to study such tropism. Three main causative agents of LD, Borrelia burgdorferi, B.

Zika virus infects Aedes aegypti ovaries.

Pathogens are transmitted from one host to another either by vertical transmission (VT) or horizontal transmission (HT). Mosquito-borne arboviruses (arthropod-borne viruses), including several clinically important viruses such as dengue, Zika, West Nile and chikungunya viruses persist in nature by both VT and HT. VT may also serve as an essential link in the transmission cycle during adverse environmental conditions.

Evidence of West Nile Virus Circulation in Lebanon.

West Nile virus (WNV) has never been reported from Lebanon. Yet, this country is located on the flyway of migratory birds in the Middle East region. Serological screening was conducted to assess the potential circulation of this virus.