The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Volume 23, Issue 4, July 1974

La Crosse (LAC) virus was isolated from 3 suspensions of Aedes triseriatus larvae and from 1 suspension of male mosquitoes reared from larvae collected from basal tree-holes in Wisconsin during March, April, May, and June of 1973. Isolations of this virus were also obtained from 5 suspensions of A. triseriatus larvae and 4 suspensions of male mosquitoes originating from old automobile tires. Virus transmission to suckling mice was accomplished by female A. triseriatus reared from larvae collected from the tires.

Only two tree-holes and the tires yielded LAC virus-infected larvae and adults. The minimum field infection rate (MFIR) for these tree-holes and the tires, based on one infected larva per pool, was 1/110 larvae from the tree-holes and 1/20 larvae from the tires. The MFIR for adults was 1/41 male mosquitoes originating from one of the tree-holes and 1/27 for male mosquitoes originating from the tires. The MFIR for female mosquitoes reared from larvae collected from the tires was 1/110. No virus was isolated from 255 female mosquitoes reared from larvae collected from the tree-holes. These findings strongly suggest that A. triseriatus is the reservoir of LAC virus and that transovarial transmission of the virus in A. triseriatus is the mechanism responsible for the survival of this arbovirus during the winter season in the north-central United States.

A fatal case of tropical phycomycosis in a 4-year-old Brazilian girl is described. There was marked involvement of the thighs and pelvic organs which was confused with malignancy or filariasis. The case had an unusual course, possibly due to massive mycotic infection.

In order to determine whether tadpoles of Hyla septentrionalis are effective predators of larval peridomestic mosquitoes, larvae were exposed to tadpoles and the association between larvae and tadpoles in nature was recorded. Tadpoles were cannibalistic, eating egg masses of their own species, as well as a variety of material of both plant and animal origin. Tadpoles captured and ate more than 13 larval Culex pipiens per day. In natural breeding sites on Grand Bahama Island, larval C. pipiens were never abundant in sites that contained tadpoles and when tadpoles were introduced into vessels that contained mosquitoes, these containers soon became free of mosquitoes. The habitat of H. septentrionalis tadpoles in the study area seemed identical to that of larval C. pipiens and more than half of apparently suitable sites contained tadpoles. Thus, the presence of these frogs appeared to limit the abundance of C. pipiens.

Seven and 10-day exoerythrocytic forms of Plasmodium vivax have been experimentally produced in hepatic tissues of Ateles (spider monkeys); patent infections developed in the recipients. These monkeys represent a new test system.

A copy of Sir David Bruce's second report on tsetse fly disease in Zululand in the collection of the University of Michigan Medical School library was found to contain Doctor F. G. Novy's marginal notations. These suggest that Doctor Novy had deduced the presence of a trypanosome cycle in the tsetse fly prior to its actual description by Robert Koch in 1905.

The presence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Panamá is reported. It was recovered from seawater off the Pacific coastline and in the channel of the Panama Canal. This is the first time this organism has been isolated in Panamá.

Blueprint for Medical Care, by David D. Rustein. xxiv + 284 pages. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1974. $8.95.

Dermatology, by P. Hall-Smith, R. J. Cairns, and R. L. B. Beare. 2nd edition. 374 pages, illustrated. Grune & Stratton, Inc., 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10003. 1973. $18.50.

Experimental Immunology, by Robert Burrell. 4th edition. vi + 98 pages, illustrated. Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1974. $5.75.

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus and Other Arenaviruses, edited by F. Lehmann-Grube. xii + 339 pages, illustrated. Springer-Verlag, New York, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. 1973. $18.10.

1971 Global Mosquito and Mosquito-borne Disease Situation, The, by Helen Sollers-Riedel. 51 pages. 1972 supplement to the Proceedings of the 59th Annual Meeting, New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Association. Order from New Jersey Mosquito Extermination Association, P.O. Box 19009, Washington, D. C. 20036. $3.00.

Schistosomiasis: The Evolution of a Medical Literature. Selected Abstracts and Citations, 1852–1972, by Kenneth S. Warren.

In the 12 years since its first edition (sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Section of Farbenfabriken Bayer A.G., Leverkusen), this small volume has remained one of the more succinctly accurate and by all odds, the most esthetically pleasing recently published human parasitology text. A commercially available revision is certainly welcome, even with a soft cover of dubious durability. The title is somewhat misleading, for while the book is built around 31 plates (all but 5 in colors so faithfully done that they approach the quality of 1900–1924 lithographs), this is more than a picture-book of muted pastel-parasites. Following a general and epidemiologically oriented introduction, 29 chapters cover protozoan, trematode, cestode and nematode agents and the diseases they cause, singly or in related groups. Two final black and white plates show comparative diagnostic features of protozoan cysts, helminth eggs and larvae and of adults of the commonest helminths.