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Recent declines of wild pollinators and infections in honey, bumble and other bee species have raised concerns about pathogen spillover from managed honey and bumble bees to other pollinators. Parasites of honey and bumble bees include trypanosomatids and microsporidia that often exhibit low host specificity, suggesting potential for spillover to co-occurring bees via shared floral resources. However, experimental tests of trypanosomatid and microsporidial cross-infectivity outside of managed honey and bumble bees are scarce. To characterize potential cross-infectivity of honey and bumble bee-associated parasites, we inoculated three trypanosomatids and one microsporidian into five potential hosts - including four managed species - from the apid, halictid and megachilid bee families. We found evidence of cross-infection by the trypanosomatids Crithidia bombi and C. mellificae, with evidence for replication in 3/5 and 3/4 host species, respectively. These include the first reports of experimental C. bombi infection in Megachile rotundata and Osmia lignaria, and C. mellificae infection in O. lignaria and Halictus ligatus. Although inability to control amounts inoculated in O. lignaria and H. ligatus hindered estimates of parasite replication, our findings suggest a broad host range in these trypanosomatids, and underscore the need to quantify disease-mediated threats of managed social bees to sympatric pollinators.

The brain-gut-microbiome axis is an emerging area of study, particularly in vertebrate systems. Existing evidence suggests that gut microbes can influence basic physiological functions and that perturbations to the gut microbiome can have deleterious effects on cognition and lead to neurodevelopmental disorders. While this relationship has been extensively studied in vertebrate systems, little is known about this relationship in insects. We hypothesized that because of its importance in bee health, the gut microbiota influences learning and memory in adult bumble bees. As an initial test of whether there is a brain-gut-microbiome axis in bumble bees, we reared microbe-inoculated and microbe-depleted bees from commercial Bombus impatiens colonies. We then conditioned experimental bees to associate a sucrose reward with a color and tested their ability to learn and remember the rewarding color. We found no difference between microbe-inoculated and microbe-depleted bumble bees in performance during the behavioral assay. While these results suggest that the brain-gut-microbiome axis is not evident in Bombus impatiens, future studies with different invertebrate systems are needed to further investigate this phenomenon.

Context: The objective of CHOICES (Community Heart Outcomes Improvement and Cholesterol Education Study) is to understand how evidence-informed cholesterol management can prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 14 health regions at higher risk in Ontario, Canada using a suite of educational interventions. An integrated knowledge translation (IKT) approach was used to co-create an educational tool on CVD risk, behaviour modifications for cholesterol management, and cholesterol-lowering medications. In order to further understand the needs of Ontario residents related to CVD prevention, a process evaluation was conducted through engagement with the public. Objective: To evaluate implementation quality including reach, responsiveness and usability of the patient-targeted educational tool for cholesterol management. Study Design: A 10-minute online survey was administered to users of the tool. Population: Adults aged 40-75 years who reside in one of the 14 identified regions in Ontario with higher-than-average CVD risk. The tool and survey were shared broadly in the targeted regions and participants were recruited through social media, stakeholder involvement, and market research organizations. Outcome Measures: Reach was measured by the number of participants who received the tool and completed the survey. The survey measured perceived usability of organization, layout and applicability of the tool (6-items). Responsiveness was measured by the level of receptivity and interest in sharing the tool (4-items). Respondents ranked their level of agreement to each question on a likert scale from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Results: 230 users of the tool were recruited to participate, of which 104 completed the survey (response rate= 45.2%). Respondents indicated that the tool's content was clear (M = 6.00, SD = 1.05) and would support them as a patient seeking cholesterol related information (M = 6.00, SD = 0.99). Respondents indicated their high likelihood to recommend the tool to their personal networks (M = 5.37, SD = 1.19) and preference to receive similar information from their family physician (M = 5.92, SD = 1.15). Conclusion: Overall, participant responsiveness and receptivity to the co-created patient educational tool was high. This work enhances understanding of the benefits of co-created patient-targeted interventions to improve cholesterol management and ultimately inform the implementation of similar scalable strategies across Ontario., Competing Interests: Authors report none., (© 2021 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.)