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NewsDecember 21, 2005
West Nile Disease: A Preview of What’s to Come
The mosquito-borne West Nile disease outbreak in California this year that killed 18 people and infected more than 900, is not an isolated event, says UC Davis medical entomologist Robert Washino, who received the international Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology in December 2005. “It’s a preview of what’s to come unless we take proactive actions.” Washino said that exotic diseases such as Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley and other mosquito-borne diseases may very well find their way into the United States, just as West Nile did in 1999 in New York and then spread across the country. Serious outbreaks of highly infectious diseases are occurring throughout the world, including Japanese encephalitis in Northern India and neighboring Nepal, and dengue in Singapore and Malaysia, he said. "The Philippines and Thailand are also battling a rash of infections, and the ongoing malaria epidemic in Africa still kills a child every 30 seconds.” Terrorism is a hot topic now, “but we ought to be just as concerned about the natural introduction of non-indigenous, mosquito-borne diseases,” Washino declared. “What is needed is more research and better facilities to conduct studies to elucidate the best means of controlling an epidemic, especially in the United States west of the Mississippi. It’s important also to educate the public regarding West Nile pesticides and the environment.” During the West Nile crisis in the Sacramento area, some people seemed more concerned about pesticides than the disease itself, he said. “However, most public agencies in California rely on biological and physical control measures for larval control but will use chemical adulticiding only as a last resort in an emergency situation.” List of Past Recipients Includes Five UC EntomologistsSince 1987, five University of California medical entomologists have received the coveted Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology. It is given not by year, but by merit. P arasitologist-entomologist Harry Hoogstraal (1917-1986), based in Egypt, was a global authority on ticks and tick-borne diseases.
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