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International audience; An ectoparasiticide combining three active ingredients [dinotefuran, permethrin and pyriproxyfen (DPP)] was used in mice in an experiment designed to evaluate its anti-feeding and insecticidal efficacy against Stegomyia albopicta (=Aedes albopictus) (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes. Twenty-two adult mice were randomly allocated into two groups consisting of an untreated control group and a DPP-treated group. Mice were exposed individually for 1h to a mean +/- standard deviation of 27 +/- 2 starved female mosquitoes on days 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-treatment. At the end of the exposure (1h), mosquitoes were assessed for immediate survival and engorgement status. Additionally, live mosquitoes in both groups were incubated separately and observed for mortality at 24h after the end of the exposure. The anti-feeding efficacy of DPP after the 1-h exposure period was 99.2, 100, 98.0, 89.3 and 87.4% at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28days, respectively. Levels of insecticidal efficacy evaluated at 1h and 24h after exposure on days 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 were 36.7, 28.9, 30.8, 23.1 and 11.9%, and 68.4, 45.0, 43.3, 37.9 and 19.9%, respectively. Based on the mouse model, the present study demonstrates that the DPP combination has significant anti-feeding and insecticidal efficacy against S.albopicta for at least 4 weeks.

International audience; BACKGROUND: Head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, occur in four divergent mitochondrial clades (A, B, C and D), each having particular geographical distributions. Recent studies suggest that head lice, as is the case of body lice, can act as a vector for louse-borne diseases. Therefore, understanding the genetic diversity of lice worldwide is of critical importance to our understanding of the risk of louse-borne diseases.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we report the results of the first molecular screening of pygmies' head lice in the Republic of Congo for seven pathogens and an analysis of lice mitochondrial clades. We developed two duplex clade-specific real-time PCRs and identified three major mitochondrial clades: A,C, and D indicating high diversity among the head lice studied. We identified the presence of a dangerous human pathogen, Borrelia recurrentis, the causative agentof relapsing fever, in ten clade A head lice, which was not reported in the Republic of Congo, and B. theileri in one head louse. The results also show widespread infection among head lice with several species of Acinetobacter. A. junii was the most prevalent, followed by A. ursingii, A. baumannii, A. johnsonii, A. schindleri, A. lwoffii, A. nosocomialis and A. towneri. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to show the presence of B. recurrentis in African pygmies' head lice in the Republic of Congo. This study isalso the first to report the presence of DNAs of B. theileri and several species of Acinetobacter in human head lice. Further studies are needed to determinewhether the head lice can transmit these pathogenic bacteria from person to another.

Canine monositik ehrlichiosis köpeklerin dünya çapında karşılaşılan önemli bir bulaşıcı hastalığı olarak kabul edilmektedir. Trombositopeni, lökopeni ve normositik, normokromik anemi en önemli laboratuvar bulgularıdır. Bu çalışmada Ayvalık, Burhaniye, Dikili, Edremit, Bergama bölgelerindeki sokak köpeği popülasyonundan rastgele seçilen 160 sokak köpeğinde Ehrlichia canis’in varlığını belirlemek için IFA testi uygulandı. IFA köpeklerde anti - E. canis antikorlarının tespiti ve titrasyonunda kullanılan bir serolojik test metodudur. Tüm köpekler klinik olarak sağlıklıydı. Köpeklerin 111’inin (% 69,4) seropozitif oldukları; seropozitiflik oranının erkek köpeklerde % 69.9 (65/93) ve dişilerde % 68.7 (46/67) olduğu belirlenmiştir. Trombositopeni (

International audience; Many human viral infections have a zoonotic, i.e., wild or domestic animal, origin. Several zoonotic viruses are transmitted to humans directly via contact with an animal or indirectly via exposure to the urine or feces of infected animals or the bite of a bloodsucking arthropod. If a virus is able to adapt and replicate in its new human host, human-to-human transmissions may occur, possibly resulting in an epidemic, such as the A/H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. Thus, predicting emerging zoonotic infections is an important challenge for public health officials in the coming decades. The recent development of viral metagenomics, i.e., the characterization of the complete viral diversity isolated from an organism or an environment using high-throughput sequencing technologies, is promising for the surveillance of such diseases and can be accomplished by analyzing the viromes of selected animals and arthropods that are closely in contact with humans. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge of viral diversity within such animals (in particular blood-feeding arthropods, wildlife and domestic animals) using metagenomics and present its possible future application for the surveillance of zoonotic and arboviral diseases.

Little is known about the presence/absence and prevalence of Rickettsia spp, Bartonella spp. and Yersinia pestis in domestic and urban flea populations in tropical and subtropical African countries. Methodology/Principal findings Fleas collected in Benin, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were investigated for the presence and identity of Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp. and Yersinia pestis using two qPCR systems or qPCR and standard PCR. In Xenopsylla cheopis fleas collected from Cotonou (Benin), Rickettsia typhi was detected in 1% (2/199), and an uncultured Bartonella sp. was detected in 34.7% (69/199). In the Lushoto district (United Republic of Tanzania), R. typhi DNA was detected in 10% (2/20) of Xenopsylla brasiliensis, and Rickettsia felis was detected in 65% (13/20) of Ctenocephalides felis strongylus, 71.4% (5/7) of Ctenocephalides canis and 25% (5/20) of Ctenophthalmus calceatus calceatus. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, R. felis was detected in 56.5% (13/23) of Ct. f. felis from Kinshasa, in 26.3% (10/38) of Ct. f. felis and 9% (1/11) of Leptopsylla aethiopica aethiopica from Ituri district and in 19.2% (5/26) of Ct. f. strongylus and 4.7% (1/21) of Echidnophaga gallinacea. Bartonella sp. was also detected in 36.3% (4/11) of L. a. aethiopica. Finally, in Ituri, Y. pestis DNA was detected in 3.8% (1/26) of Ct. f. strongylus and 10% (3/30) of Pulex irritans from the villages of Wanyale and Zaa. Conclusion Most flea-borne infections are neglected diseases which should be monitored systematically in domestic rural and urban human populations to assess their epidemiological and clinical relevance. Finally, the presence of Y. pestis DNA in fleas captured in households was unexpected and raises a series of questions regarding the role of free fleas in the transmission of plague in rural Africa, especially in remote areas where the flea density in houses is high., Author Summary Fleas are associated with many bacterial diseases such as rickettsioses, bartonelloses and plague. These diseases may be severe, and little is known about their prevalence. Accordingly, we believe that our data shed light on the problem of unexplained fevers in tropical and subtropical African areas. Using molecular tools, we surveyed and studied selected flea-borne agents, namely Rickettsia spp. (R. felis and R. typhi), Bartonella spp. and Y. pestis, in fleas collected in Ituri (Linga and Rethy health zone) and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Lushoto district in the United Republic of Tanzania and in Cotonou in Benin. We found that these bacteria are present in the studied regions. R. typhi and an unidentified Bartonella sp. were detected in fleas from Cotonou (Benin). R. felis and R. typhi were also detected in the Lushoto district (United Republic of Tanzania). Finally, we detected R. felis, Bartonella sp. and Y. pestis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As these emerging zoonotic diseases have a global distribution and affect public health, the implementation of vector control strategies is urgent.

Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis has been recognized as an important world-wide canine infectious disease. Thrombocytopenia, leucopenia and normocytic, normochromic anemia are among the major laboratory findings. In this study, 160 stray dogs randomly selected to represent the stray dog population in Ayvalik, Burhaniye, Dikili, Edremit, Bergama region, were tested using IFA to detect antibodies against Ehrlichia canis. The development of methods of in vitro cultivation of E. canis led to the use of the IFA serologic test for detection and titration of anti-E. canis antibodies in dogs. One hundred and eleven of 160 dogs were found seropositive (69.4%) including 69.9% (65/93) of the males and 68.7% (46/67) of the females. There were no significant sex differences. All the dogs were clinically healthy. Thrombocytopenia (