You are currently browsing the monthly archive for August 2012.
In light of numerous cases of West Nile virus in Texas and surrounding states, the Journal of the American Medical Association has published an article describing the technology and symptoms of West Nile virus. Prevention is also discussed. Read the article here: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1355346
It’s not often that a particular pest causes enough problems to have its own field day.
Palmer pigweed and a few others in that pesky class are now joined by the kudzu bug.
A kudzu bug seminar and field tour will be held at the Edisto Agriculture Research and Education Center near Blackville, S.C., on Sept. 11, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
ITHACA, NY: Cornell University plant pathologist George Hudler began Branching Out in 1994 as a newsletter providing plant health-care professionals with “hot off the press” information about insects and diseases on woody plants in New York landscapes. Each issue included a feature article providing in-depth discussions of individual pests and pathogens.
LEXINGTON, Ky., (Aug. 30, 2012) – Cases of West Nile virus continue to climb across the state. As of Aug. 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed three human cases of West Nile in Kentucky. The Office of the State Veterinarian reported eight equine cases in Kentucky as of Aug. 27. This is compared to one equine case and five human cases of West Nile in 2011.
The 3rd International Lygus Symposium will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 28-31, 2012 at the Hotel Valley Ho.
The Symposium sessions will address the biology and control of lygus bugs and other mirid pests. Some of the topics to be covered include control chemistry, landscape ecology, IPM and resistance. To learn more about the 3rd International Lygus Symposium, please visit http://ag.arizona.edu/apmc/3rdILS/Home.htmlor contact Colin Brent (colin.brent@ars.usda.gov) .
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a website that is tracking children’s health and related incidents/health effects: http://ephtracking.cdc.gov/showChildEHMain.action .
A new Children’s Environmental Health module is now available on the Tracking Network! This module brings together data and information already on the Tracking Network related to children’s health. Specific topics in this module include asthma, some childhood cancers, lead poisoning, some developmental disabilities, and socioeconomic conditions.
In this module you can learn:
- reasons why children are at greater risk for health effects from environmental contaminants,
- how exposures to environmental hazards can affect a child’s growth and development, and
- ways to protect children from environmental exposures so they can live safer, healthier lives.
Another feature new to the Network is a Communication Tools link within each topic. Click on the Communication Tools link in the green left hand navigation menu to view items such as toolkits, videos, and podcasts related to each topic. Animated maps are available on the communication tools page for the following areas: asthma, birth defects, carbon monoxide poisoning, childhood lead poisoning, and reproductive and birth outcomes.
Visit the Tracking Network today to explore the data and learn more about children’s environmental health.
New Orleans Mosquito, Rodent & Termite Control is offering a two-day workshop that will offer comprehensive information in several areas of environmental health, vector and pest control. Principals of food and water safety, mass gatherings, and disaster management related to environmental health will be covered.
The speakers will be environmental health specialists from the Centers for Disease Control and entomologists from the City of New Orleans.
Louisiana environmental health specialists will earn 14 CEUs for attending the full workshop. Registration must be received by September 7th.
For more information please feel free to contact Cynthia Krohn at (504) 658-2400.
From USDA ARS:
Formosan subterranean termites could be in for a real headache. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have identified species of roundworms, or “nematodes,” that invade the termite brains and offer a potential bio-based approach to controlling them. Other nematodes that were identified invaded tarantula brains.
The Formosan termite, a nonnative species from Asia, feeds on cellulose from the heartwood of trees, the wood support beams of buildings, and other sources. It causes an estimated $1 billion annually in U.S. damages, repairs and control costs.
Biologically based control of the pest isn’t a new concept, but the nematode species examined thus far do not kill the termites efficiently, according to Lynn Carta, a plant pathologist with the Nematology Laboratory, operated in Beltsville, Md., by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA’s chief intramural scientific research agency.
Since 1999, Carta has determined the identities of seven species of nematode isolated from the bodies of Formosan termites by Ashok Raina, a retired entomologist formerly with the ARS Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, La. Other specimens Carta has identified were collected from dead or sick termites native to Uzbekistan. Further details appear in the International Journal of Nematology.
Of particular interest to Carta and colleagues are bacteria that have a symbiotic association with the nematodes. In one case, a Poikilolaimus nematode species and bacterial “accomplice” were isolated from the heads of Formosan termites, and it’s likely the microbe had sickened the insects in the field. According to Carta, the bacterial association raises an interesting prospect: using nematodes as vectors of insect pathogens rather than as primary biocontrol agents—the traditional approach.
In another case that’s still under investigation, Carta implicated a Panagrellus nematode species in the death of pet tarantulas. She suspects an insect and yeast may also be involved and is intrigued by the possibility because it would reveal a new ecological association that could yield novel approaches to pest control.
Read more about the research in the August 2012 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
By Jan Suszkiw
August 20, 2012
This year’s Sustainable Agricultural Conference will be held Oct. 26-28, 2012 in Greenville, SC. To find out more, go to http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/sac/.
LEXINGTON, Ky., (Aug. 21, 2012) – Forage producers reseeding their drought-damaged pastures this fall will want to be on the lookout for fall armyworm as the new grass seedlings emerge, said Lee Townsend, extension entomologist with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.
