Dermacentor reticulatus: a vector on the rise

Dermacentor reticulatus is a hard tick species with extraordinary biological features. It has a high reproduction rate, a rapid developmental cycle, and is also able to overcome years of unfavourable conditions. Dermacentor reticulatus can survive under water for several months and is cold-hardy even compared to other tick species. It has a wide host range: over 60 different wild and domesticated hosts are known for the three active developmental stages. Its high adaptiveness gives an edge to this tick species as shown by new data on the emergence and establishment of D. reticulatus populations throughout Europe. The tick has been the research focus of a growing number of scientists, physicians and veterinarians. Within the Web of Science database, more than a fifth of the over 700 items published on this species between 1897 and 2015 appeared in the last three years (2013–2015). Here we attempt to synthesize current knowledge on the systematics, ecology, geographical distribution and recent spread of the species and to highlight the great spectrum of possible veterinary and public health threats it poses. Canine babesiosis caused by Babesia canis is a severe leading canine vector-borne disease in many endemic areas. Although less frequently than Ixodes ricinus, D. reticulatus adults bite humans and transmit several Rickettsia spp., Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus or Tick-borne encephalitis virus. We have not solely collected and reviewed the latest and fundamental scientific papers available in primary databases but also widened our scope to books, theses, conference papers and specialists colleagues’ experience where needed. Besides the dominant literature available in English, we also tried to access scientific literature in German, Russian and eastern European languages as well. We hope to inspire future research projects that are necessary to understand the basic life-cycle and ecology of this vector in order to understand and prevent disease threats. We conclude that although great strides have been made in our knowledge of the eco-epidemiology of this species, several gaps still need to be filled with basic research, targeting possible reservoir and vector roles and the key factors resulting in the observed geographical spread of D. reticulatus. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1599-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Primary brain tumour epidemiology in Georgia: first-year results of a population-based study

A population-based cohort study was initiated in Georgia in March 2009 to collect epidemiologic data of malignant and non-malignant primary brain tumours. During the first year, 473 incident cases were identified. For a population of 4.3 million, the annual incidence rate was 10.25 per 100,000 inhabitants, age-standardized to the year 2000 US population. Non-malignant tumours constituted about 66 % of all tumours. Males accounted for 40 % and females for 60 % of the cases. Crude incidence rates by histology were highest for meningiomas (2.92/100,000), pituitary adenoma (1.16/100,000) and glioblastomas (0.64/100,000), which was in agreement with the frequency of reported histology: meningiomas--45.2 %, pituitary adenoma--18.0 % and glioblastomas--9.9 %. The age-standardized incidence rates were higher among females than males for all primary brain tumours (11.05 vs. 8.44/100,000) as well as for individual histologies except for glioblastoma and several other neuroepithelial tumours. Some differences compared with 2004-2005 Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States data may be explained by a higher percentage of unclassified tumours (37 %) in our study. We suggest further studies to clarify the nature of this discrepancy

Visual Detection of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Genotypes 16, 18, 45, 52, and 58 by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification with Hydroxynaphthol Blue Dye▿

A simple, rapid, sensitive, qualitative, colorimetric loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with hydroxynaphthol blue dye (HNB) was established to detect high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes 16, 18, 45, 52, and 58. All initial validation studies with the control DNA proved to be type specific. The colorimetric type-specific LAMP assay could achieve a sensitivity of 10 to 100 copies at 63°C for 65 min, comparable to that of real-time PCR. In order to evaluate the reliability of HPV type-specific LAMP, the assay was further evaluated with HPV DNAs from a panel of 294 clinical specimens whose HPV status was previously determined with a novel one-step typing method with multiplex PCR. The tested panel comprised 108 HPV DNA-negative samples and 186 HPV-DNA-positive samples of 14 genotypes. The results showed that the sensitivity of HPV type-specific LAMP for HPV types 16, 18, 45, 52, and 58 was 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively, and the specificity was 100%, 98.5%, 100%, 98.8%, and 99.2%, respectively, compared with a novel one-step typing method with multiplex PCR. No cross-reactivity with other HPV genotypes was observed. In conclusion, this qualitative and colorimetric LAMP assay has potential usefulness for the rapid screening of HPV genotype 16, 18, 45, 52, and 58 infections, especially in resource-limited hospitals or rural clinics of provincial and municipal regions in China