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Flying Under the Radar

GAINESVILLE, FL – University of Florida Associate Professor of Medical Geography Dr. Sadie Ryan (Emerging Pathogens Institute, Quantitative Disease Ecology & Conservation Lab) spoke with WUFT News about vector-borne disease in the time of coronavirus in Flying Under the Radar. “It’s not like mosquitoes went on hold because of COVID,” she said. “The message needs to stay alive.” […]

Spatiotemporal Tools for Emerging and Endemic Disease Hotspots in Small Areas: An Analysis of Dengue and Chikungunya in Barbados, 2013–2016

LIPPI, RYAN – Spatiotemporal Tools for Emerging and Endemic Disease Hotspots in Small Areas: An Analysis of Dengue and Chikungunya in Barbados, 2013–2016 Catherine A. Lippi, Anna M. Stewart-Ibarra, Moory Romero, Avery Q. J. Hinds, Rachel Lowe, Roché Mahon, Cedric J. Van Meerbeeck, Leslie Rollock, Marquita Gittens-St. Hilaire, Adrian R. Trotman, Dale Holligan, Shane Kirton, […]

Machine Learning Predictions of Dengue Patients Outcomes Yield Promising Results

GAINESVILLE, FL – Helping patients with dengue can be challenging – especially in countries with multiple diseases spread by mosquitoes. Dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are viruses spread by the same type of mosquito; all three viruses are present in Ecuador and many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Patients infected with one of […]

Novel Network Approach to Mosquito Control Distribution Yields Insights for a City in Southern Ecuador

GAINESVILLE, FL – Fighting mosquito-borne disease can be costly – in both health and financial resources. While mosquito control is an effective way to combat the spread of diseases like dengue fever, the cost of spraying every house in a city quickly adds up. These costs limit public health vector control programs, which often operate […]

Insecticide Resistance Threatens the Control of Mosquito-Borne Disease in Ecuador

GAINESVILLE – In the battle against vector borne disease, mosquito control using insecticides is an essential tool. But what happens when that tool starts to fail, and how do you know it? Insecticides are regularly used by public health agencies to reduce populations of blood-sucking mosquitoes. Effective control programs are important to public health because, […]

New maps show where mosquitoes will invade Ecuador’s Andes mountains

GAINESVILLE – Blood sucking insects such as the Yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, are more than just a nuisance in Ecuador, they also spread diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika. A warming world means that public health officials must decide where to direct surveillance and mosquito control efforts not only today, but also […]

Temperature drives Zika virus transmission: evidence from empirical and mathematical models

RYAN – Temperature drives Zika virus transmission: evidence from empirical and mathematical models Blanka Tesla, Leah R. Demakovsky, Erin A. Mordecai, Sadie J. Ryan, Matthew H. Bonds, Calistus N. Ngonghala, Melinda A. Brindley, Courtney C. Murdock Article first published online: 15 AUG 2018 Proceedings of the Royal Society B DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0795 ABSTRACT: Temperature is a […]

UF Researchers Refine Zika Transmission Models

GAINESVILLE, FL – A University of Florida Medical Geography researcher recently participated in a study that found that current estimates of Zika virus transmission vastly over predict its possible range. Temperature is a major driver of vector-borne disease transmission, but current transmission models rely on untested assumptions about life history of Zika infected Aedes aegypti […]

Nonlinear and delayed impacts of climate on dengue risk in Barbados: A modelling study

LIPPI, RYAN – Nonlinear and delayed impacts of climate on dengue risk in Barbados: A modelling study Rachel Lowe, Antonio Gasparrini, Cédric J. Van Meerbeeck, Catherine A. Lippi, Roché Mahon, Adrian R. Trotman, Leslie Rollock, Avery Q. J. Hinds, Sadie J. Ryan, Anna M. Stewart-Ibarra Article first published online: 17 JUL 2018 PLOS Medicine DOI: […]

UF Researchers Make New Strides in Predicting Dengue Fever Outbreaks

GAINESVILLE, FL – Medical Geography researchers from the University of Florida recently participated in a study that successfully predicted dengue fever outbreaks on the Caribbean island of Barbados, using climate data. This paper is part of a special issue of PLOS MEDICINE, focusing on the impacts of climate change on health, and is a result […]