Event Summary:
Early detection of arbovirus transmission is critical for timely implementation of preventative measures. Many current surveillance techniques rely upon infection in vertebrates (humans, domestic, wild or sentinel animals) or vectors (pool screening) to detect arbovirus transmission. Techniques that reduce the time to detection increase the time available to implement preventative measures. A major advance in arbovirus surveillance was developed by a team from Australia exploiting sugar feeding by trapped mosquitoes. This idea to use preservative filter papers, soaked in honey or other sugar source in order to collect and aggregate saliva of trapped mosquitoes.​ This webinar will cover this technique and how it has been evaluated with three traps (carbon dioxide-baited light trap, gravid trap and resting trap) in Florida to detect zoonotic arboviruses from mosquitoes. The webinar concludes with various ideas on potential future developments and trap modifications to enhance arbovirus surveillance.

Outline:

1. Vectors
2. Vector-borne pathogens
3. Transmission cycles
4. Arbovirus surveillance
5. Exploiting sugar feeding by mosquitoes for arbovirus surveillance
6. Field evaluation of honey cards in Florida
7. Future developments and modifications

THIS WEBINAR IS SPONSORED BY: