Aoife's NEVBD Internship Blog

 New Traps This week I set two new kinds of traps: BG traps and Ovi traps. I set them both at a site in Blackstone that tested positive for WNV and caught an Asian tiger mosquito last week. We especially want to monitor the areas  I set the BG and Ovi traps at the site that tested positive for WNV last week to increase surveillance. The BG trap doesn't catch many mosquitoes, but it has been the most effective at catching Asian Tiger mosquitoes. It attracts the mosquitoes with a BG lure, a stick that is supposed to smell like people (but to me it smells awful!). After the mosquitoes fly to the trap, they get sucked in by a fan and trapped in a net. Fortunately, I did not catch any Asian Tiger mosquitoes, so we are safe for now.  Ovi traps are made to collect mosquito eggs. They are small black cups with a special paper inside that the eggs stick to after being laid. Processing Ovi traps takes about a months time. First, I have to set the traps - which is 6 cups at a time. ...

West Nile Virus Positives This week, we had three West Nile Virus positive pools this week: in Blackstone, Natick, and Worcester. Blackstone and Natick are in my route, so I trapped the positive mosquitoes in those towns. It's a little scary knowing I was so close to mosquitoes with WNV. This positive case has also brought new meaning to my job as a trapper. I'm glad I was part of the team that caught these WNV cases and were able to help out the public. I think these positives will peak public curiosity and worry about mosquitoes, so I think I will have a lot more people come up and ask my questions. So, I'll make sure to brush up on my knowledge of WNV so that I can educate them and hopefully minimize their risk of contracting a vector-borne disease.  Golden Anopheles  Last week we found many mosquitoes uncommon to central Massachusetts in our traps. On Thursday, Audrey and I were processing mosquitoes when she noticed a very large, golden bug in her trap. We didn't k...

Continuing to Trap and ID Over the past two weeks, I've continued to go out in the field and collect mosquitoes using CDC CO2 traps and gravid traps. No mosquitoes in our towns have tested positive for any diseases yet, which is good! But, Norfolk County had its first case of West Nile and Plymouth County had its first case of EEE last week, so we expect a positive soon. The number of perturbans  we caught has decreased dramatically compared to the last couple weeks. As the CDC traps become less full, the gravid traps are getting fuller. I'm getting more familiar with distinguishing Culex mosquitoes and will continue to practice this over the rest of the internship. First of the Trainee Summer Seminar Series! Dr. Beard: Future Vector-Borne Disease Workforce  On Friday, I attended Dr. Ben Beard's insightful presentation on the future trajectory of vector-borne diseases (VBDs). Dr. Beard emphasized the profound impact of climate change on VBDs, highlighting how shifts in clim...