Weeks 1 and 2

 My day to save for the summer:

CDC Traps

For the past two weeks, my main job has been setting up and taking down CDC traps. These traps look a little bit like miniature flying saucers, but instead of aliens coming down from them, mosquitoes are going into  them! CMMCP mainly uses CO2 CDC traps, which release carbon dioxide from a tank we connect to the top of the trap. Mosquito antennae detect carbon dioxide, and this ability is used by the mosquitos to find sources of blood, so they are attracted to the CO2 emitted by our traps. Some CDC traps use light to attract the mosquitos, but we use the CO2 traps to reduce the number of junk bugs (the bugs that get caught in the trap that aren't mosquitos). Once a mosquito flies close to the trap, a fan pushes them down into a collection cup where they cannot escape. The next day, I return to the trap to collect the sample and disassemble the trap. 

My truck, packed and ready to set up CDC CO2 traps.

 

CDC CO2 trap

Once I get back to the lab with the mosquitos, I place the samples into a freezer to kill them. Once they are dead, I remove junk bugs and place the mosquitos from the specific trap in their own cup. In the morning, the people in the lab identify the mosquitos and send them into Boston where they are tested for diseases.  

My Route

I'm driving the Southern route. I cover the towns in blue on the map below.

 

Learning a lot About Mosquitos 

I've learned a lot about disease transmission through conversations with the biologist in the office. He told me that viruses do not originate in mosquitos, instead, mosquitos contract pathogens when they feed on an infected host. Birds are common introductory hosts. After feeding on an infected animal, the pathogen rapidly multiples in the stomach of the mosquito. The pathogen in transmitted from mosquito to human when the mosquito bites the human.  The mosquito first injects the human with saliva, which acts as an anticoagulant, making the blood flow without disruption. As the mosquito bites the human, the pathogen from the saliva enters the human and infects them.

Next week, I will be learning how to set gravid traps and maybe practice mosquito id!