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Parasites threaten human and animal health globally. It is estimated that more than 60% of people on planet Earth carry at least one parasite, many of them several different species. Unfortunately, parasite studies suffer from duplications and inconsistencies between different investigator groups. Hence, groups need to collaborate in an integrated manner in areas including parasite control, improved therapy strategies, diagnostic and surveillance tools, and public awareness. Parasite studies will be better served if there is coordinated management of field data and samples across multidisciplinary approach plans, among academic and non-academic organizations worldwide. In this paper we report the first 'Living organism-World Molecular Network', with the cooperation of 167 parasitologists from 88 countries on all continents. This integrative approach, the 'Sarcoptes-World Molecular Network', seeks to harmonize Sarcoptes epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and molecular studies from all over the world, with the aim of decreasing mite infestations in humans and animals. © 2011 International Society for Infectious Diseases.

This study of imported cases of malaria, which was carried out in Bordeaux (France) in 1987-89, emphasizes the major part played by Plasmodium falciparum, especially in areas lying south of the Sahara in Africa, from where falciparum malaria is mainly imported to other countries. The study of these imported cases is strengthening our understanding of the epidemiology of malaria in relation to the country or area, whether the transmission occurs without interruptions or seasonally. The number of cases of P. falciparum per 1000 travellers (seen for vaccination against yellow fever at Bordeaux) gives an index for evaluating the risk of malaria. This risk changes with the epidemiological profile of falciparum malaria in the three major African ecosystems (rain forest, savannah, and sahelian belts), and is related to the progression of chloroquine resistance in Africa and influenced by the type of chemoprophylaxis proposed to travellers. The use of mefloquine for stays shorter than one month in Central Africa reduced the risk of malaria in 1988 and 1989, compared to 1987. [Editorial note. Recent data indicate some undesirable side-effects of mefloquine, e.g., its use during early pregnancy could lead to congenital defects.] Appropriate chemoprophylaxis and advice to travellers to areas lying south of the Sahara are therefore more and more necessary in order to arrest the increase in the number of imported falciparum malaria cases and reduce the number of serious cases, which are costly in terms of public health.

The authors describe a new genus and a new species of Ceratopogonidae: Baeodasymyia modesta n.g., n.sp., which somewhat resemble the two genera Paradasyhelea Macfie, 1940 and Baeohelea Wirth and Blanton, 1970.

The present vector studies show that the biting midge, Culicoides furens, serves as an intermediate host for Mansonella ozzardi in Haiti. A total of 3,430 C. furens were collected as they engorged on infected individuals. Under the maintenance conditions described herein, the microfilaria required 9 days to reach the infective stage. Approximately 43% of the midges survived, and from these 1,128 infective stage larvae were collected. This represents an overall infection rate of 0.76 larva per midge. Typically, there was a directly proportional relationship between the infection rate in midges and the level of microfilaremia in the individuals upon whom the C. furens fed. Also, the vector efficiency of C. furens collected from saltwater or freshwater breeding habitats was comparable.