A large percentage of Bollgard cotton is treated for bollworms [Helicoverpa zea (Boddie)] with little information about economic losses from these infestations. The impact of bollworm infestations on maturity and yield of Bollgard cotton was determined. Infestations of 1-d-old bollworm larvae were established on non-Bollgard and Bollgard cottons in large field cages. Treatments included three a...

Tungiasis is a neglected parasitic skin disease caused by the permanent penetration of the female sand flea (also called jigger flea) Tunga penetrans into the skin of its host. After penetration, most commonly on the feet, the flea undergoes an impressing hypertrophy, and some days later the abdominal segments of the flea have enlarged up to the size of about 1 cm. The flea infestation is assoc...

BACKGROUND Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), the causative agent for the fatal life-threatening infectious disease, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), was first identified in the central and eastern regions of China. Although the viral RNA was detected in free-living and parasitic ticks, the vector for SFTSV remains unsettled. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FI...

Scabies continues to be an important parasitic disease of humans, and other mammals. Suprisingly for a disease that has afflicted humans since antiquity, little is directly known about the basic biology of the parasite, the host-parasite interactions, the host immune response, and host susceptibility. Much more research in these areas is needed if we are to understand fully the occurrence, tran...

Freshwater lakes are sensitive ecosystem and respond to the episodic changes from its surrounding environment. The physico-chemical factors of water and biological processes determine the quality of water which in turn indicates the diversity of fauna and flora that the water would support. However, the ecological factors of lake correlating with parasitic isopods under natural conditions are p...

What is scabies? Scabies is an infestation of the skin by the microscopic mite Sarcoptes scabei. Infestation is common, found worldwide, and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies is very contagious. It spreads rapidly under crowded conditions, especially where there is frequent skin-to-skin contact between people, such as in hospitals, institutions, child-care facilities, and ...

Community participation is the main strategy to sustainability of Chagas disease entomological surveillance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge on triatomine insects and Chagas disease among the residents from eight localities of Diamantina, in Minas Gerais, with a view to observing any associations between their knowledge and infestations by triatomines. In order ...

Being a preventable disease, good control of scabies can be achieved by identification of risk factors. During the 3-month period February 2006-April 2006 we carried out a case-control study on 200 patients with scabies and 200 controls to identify risk factors for scabies among male soldiers in Pakistan. We identified risk factors for the infestation using logisitic regression analysis. Itchin...

OBJECTIVE To generate evidence on the effectiveness of household-wide treatment for preventing the transmission of pediculosis capitis (head lice) in resource-poor communities. METHODS We studied 132 children without head lice who lived in a slum in north-eastern Brazil. We randomized the households of the study participants into an intervention and a control group and prospectively calculate...