Conjunctival attachment of a tick: clinicopathologic report of a case.

Attachment by ticks to ocular surfaces is uncommon, but has been reported. The objective of this article is to describe a case of conjunctival tick attachment and a method for removal by conjunctival excision. A 39-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department with a complaint of foreign-body sensation in his right eye. He was found to have a live tick embedded in his conjunctiva. The tick was removed en bloc with surrounding conjunctiva by an ophthalmologist. The arthropod was identified as the larval stage of the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum). The patient did not experience any systemic illnesses or adverse sequelae. Attachment of ticks to the conjunctiva is unlikely to result in disease transmission when the larval stage is involved. However, removal by excision of a surrounding block of conjunctiva is recommended to ensure complete removal of all tick body parts.

Comparison of infusions of commercially available garden products for collection of container-breeding mosquitoes.

In 2004, gravid-trap infusions made from commercially available garden products were compared in field assays to determine their attractiveness to ovipositing female mosquitoes. Experiments were conducted simultaneously at a residential site and at an auto salvage yard in Lee County, AL, each site having an abundance of container-breeding mosquitoes. Several infusion types were initially screened, from which the following 4 infusions were selected to be compared using gravid traps for their attractiveness to mosquitoes under field conditions: oak leaves, pine straw, red (dyed) hardwood mulch, and composted manure. Culex quinquefasciatus was the only species collected in greater numbers with gravid traps than with light traps, and the difference was more than 5-fold at both study sites. Gravid traps collected (mean +/- SD) 3.1 +/- 4.3 and 6.9 +/- 11.5 Cx. quinquefasciatus females at the residential and auto salvage sites, respectively. The response of Cx. quinquefasciatus females to infusions tested was variable, and no single infusion was consistently more attractive throughout the experiment. Gravid traps collected 1.7 +/- 1.9 and 4.7 +/- 4.4 Aedes albopictus females, 0.3 +/- 1.4 and 0.5 +/- 1.3 Cx. nigripalpus females, and 0.3 +/- 0.9 and 0.2 +/- 0.8 Cx. restuans females at the residential and auto salvage sites, respectively. Roughly 5-, 20- and 10-fold the numbers of females of Aedes albopictus, Cx. nigripalpus, and Cx. restuans were collected by light traps than by gravid traps at both sites. Aedes albopictus females did not demonstrate a preference for any of the infusions tested. Significant difference among infusions for Cx. restuans and Cx. nigripalpus were detected on just 1 trap-night. On this occasion, traps with red (dyed) hardwood mulch collected significantly more females of Cx. restuans and Cx. nigripalpus than did traps with other infusions. This work indicates that gravid traps are effective tools for collecting Cx. quinquefasciatus females, and a wide variety of organic materials may be used to produce infusions that can be used to attract ovipositing container-breeding mosquitoes.

Field comparison of Bermuda-hay infusion to infusions of emergent aquatic vegetation for collecting female mosquitoes.

Field experiments were conducted in east-central Alabama in 2003 and 2004 to compare the attractiveness of selected gravid-trap infusions to ovipositing female mosquitoes. Comparisons were made among infusions of the following plants: Bermuda hay, Cynodon dactylon, and 3 species of emergent aquatic plants typical of Culex larval habitats, i.e., soft rush, Juncus effusus; a common sedge, Rhynchospora corniculata; and broad-leaf cattail, Typha latifolia. Experiments were conducted at a site in Lee County, AL, with an abundance of common nuisance mosquitoes, including Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes albopictus. Carbon dioxide-baited miniature light traps were operated concurrently with gravid traps to provide an activity index of mosquito species at the site. Gravid traps with hay infusion collected the greatest numbers of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Culex restuans females (2003). The results indicate that hay infusion is highly attractive to Cx. quinquefasciatus and is the infusion of choice for collecting females of this species in gravid traps. In the case of Ae. albopictus, infusions were not determined to be significantly different from one another in their attractiveness to gravid females. In general, females of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. restuans demonstrated selectivity when choosing an oviposition site, whereas Ae. albopictus females did not. Factors associated with the oviposition biology of the latter species most likely account for their lack of preference for any single infusion type.

Evaluation of the Mosquito Magnet Pro trap with and without 1-octen-3-ol for collecting Aedes albopictus and other urban mosquitoes.

During the summer of 2004, 3 field studies were performed to evaluate the Mosquito Magnet Pro trap with and without 1-octen-3-ol (octenol) in enhancing collections of Aedes albopictus (Skuse). At Field Site 1, 1,501 Ae. albopictus were collected, with 89% collected with octenol. At Field Site 2, 570 Ae. albopictus were collected, with 86% collected with octenol. Aedes albopictus collections were significantly enhanced in both preliminary Field Trials 1 and 2 (P < 0.03). There was a 3-fold increase in collections of Anopheles punctipennis and an 18-fold increase in collections of Ae. vexans at Field Site 2. At Field Site 3, 5,571 were Ae. albopictus, with 75% collected with octenol. Results from the 3rd field trial indicated that Ae. albopictus (P < 0.03), Coquillettida perturbans (P < 0.01), and Ochlerotatus triseriatus (P < 0.03) were significantly more attracted to traps supplemented with octenol than to traps operating without octenol. There was a 2.4-, 6-, and 3.5-fold increase in collections of Ae. albopictus with octenol in Field Trials 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

A human case of otoacariasis involving a histiostomatid mite (Acari: Histiostomatidae).

A 31-year-old Saudi man was seen at an ear, nose, and throat clinic at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with bilateral itching in the external auditory canal. On otoscopic examination, the skin lining the ear canal was thickened with whitish sheets of sloughed cells and thick discharge. Large numbers of mites of an undescribed species closely related to members of the genus Loxanoetus (Histiostomatidae) were present. The patient underwent successive washings of the ear canal with saline and 70% ethanol at intervals of 2-3 months and was treated with antibiotics. Treatment with Eurax (crotamiton) ear drops for one week cleared the mite infestation. This represents the first reported case of human otoacariasis involving a histiostomatid mite. Based on the known biology of histiostomatid mites and the associated hosts of Loxanoetus and related genera, there is reason to speculate that the patient acquired the infestation while swimming in a lake or pond where this mite was present.

Larval survey of tire-breeding mosquitoes in Alabama.

A state-wide survey of tire-breeding mosquitoes in Alabama was conducted in 2004 and 2005. Tire sites in all 67 counties in the state of Alabama were sampled for mosquito larvae. A total of 13,022 mosquito larvae, representing 12 species in 7 genera, was collected. The most frequently collected species were Aedes albopictus (70.4%), Culex territans (8.0%), and Ochlerotatus triseriatus (7.1%). The following species were also collected: Cx. restuans (6.0%), Cx. salinarius (2.7%), Orthopodomyia signifera (2.4%), and Cx. quinquefasciatus (1.4%). Ochlerotatus atropalpus, Toxorhynchites rutilus, Anopheles punctipennis, An. quadrimaculatus, and Psorophora columbiae each represented <1.0% of the total larval collections. No Ae. aegypti or Oc. japonicus were collected from tires during this survey. The first known collection of Ps. columbiae breeding in water-filled tires is reported.

Pet hamsters as a source of rat mite dermatitis.

Rat mite dermatitis is characterized by pruritic papules in a patient exposed to the tropical rat mite Ornithonyssus bacoti. We report a case of a woman with rat mite dermatitis who developed this eruption after exposure to her pet hamster. Mites were collected from the hamster and identified as O bacoti. Reported sources of rat mites, as well as avian mites and other mites that bite humans, are reviewed.