ABSTRACT
Complaints of excessive numbers of flies were reported by citizens living in a rural area surrounding a large (>2 million laying hens) egg-layer facility in northwestern Ohio. Sticky cylinder traps and hanging fly strips were used at outdoor and indoor locations, respectively, at known distances from the layer farm and from control sites to determine the most likely source of the flies and to determine the severity of the problem compared with fly populations in nearby rural settings. House flies, Musca domestica (L.), were the predominant flies captured on fly traps located within 6.4 km of the poultry operations. There was a significantly greater number of M. domestica trapped in the study area surrounding the layer facility than in the control areas. The quantity of house flies captured decreased with increased distance from the layer farm. Two years into the study, a second egg-layer facility opened in an area that was originally a control site. With regard to this second farm, after 4 yr of study, there was a significant difference shown between the population of house flies during the 2-yr control phase and the 2-yr period when the egg-layer facility was operational. This study documented that large egg layer facilities can significantly increase the house fly population in the surrounding community up to 6.4 km from the source of the flies and may result in a severe nuisance up to 3.2 km away.
Subject(s)
Demography , Houseflies/physiology , Movement/physiology , Animal Husbandry , Animals , Ohio , Population Dynamics , Poultry , Specimen Handling/methods , Statistics, NonparametricABSTRACT
Serum samples and sociodemographic data were obtained from 1,209 Ohio residents. West Nile virus immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed. Children were 4.5 times more likely to become infected yet 110 times less likely to have neuroinvasive disease develop.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , Disease Outbreaks , West Nile Fever/epidemiology , West Nile virus/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Distribution , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/blood , Immunoglobulin M/blood , Male , Middle Aged , Ohio/epidemiology , West Nile Fever/diagnosisABSTRACT
We compared kidney tissue samples and cloacal and nasopharyngeal swab samples from field-collected dead crows and blue jays for West Nile virus surveillance. Compared to tissue samples, 35% more swab samples were false negative. Swab samples were usually positive only when the corresponding tissue sample was strongly positive.
