Puccinia psidii sensu lato (s.l.) is an invasive rust fungus threatening a wide range of plant species in the family Myrtaceae. Originating from Central and South America, it has invaded mainland USA and Hawai'i, parts of Asia and Australia. We used CLIMEX to develop a semi-mechanistic global climatic niche model based on new data on the distribution and biology of P. psidii s.l. The model was validated using independent distribution data from recently invaded areas in Australia, China and Japan. We combined this model with distribution data of its potential Myrtaceae host plant species present in Australia to identify areas and ecosystems most at risk. Myrtaceaeous species richness, threatened Myrtaceae and eucalypt plantations within the climatically suitable envelope for P. psidii s.l in Australia were mapped. Globally the model identifies climatically suitable areas for P. psidii s.l. throughout the wet tropics and sub-tropics where moist conditions with moderate temperatures prevail, and also into some cool regions with a mild Mediterranean climate. In Australia, the map of species richness of Myrtaceae within the P. psidii s.l. climatic envelope shows areas where epidemics are hypothetically more likely to be frequent and severe. These hotspots for epidemics are along the eastern coast of New South Wales, including the Sydney Basin, in the Brisbane and Cairns areas in Queensland, and in the coastal region from the south of Bunbury to Esperance in Western Australia. This new climatic niche model for P. psidii s.l. indicates a higher degree of cold tolerance; and hence a potential range that extends into higher altitudes and latitudes than has been indicated previously. The methods demonstrated here provide some insight into the impacts an invasive species might have within its climatically suited range, and can help inform biosecurity policies regarding the management of its spread and protection of valued threatened assets. Bioclimatic niche models for invasive alien species (IAS) have become fundamental tools for pest risk assessment (PRA) Puccinia psidii sensu lato (s.l.) is a plant pathogenic rust fungus native to South and Central America, and possibly the Caribbean, that is commonly known as guava or eucalyptus rust Uredo rangelii (commonly referred to as myrtle rust) Puccinia psidii s.l. is most feared because it has a very wide host range within the family Myrtaceae P. psidii s.l. from Australia has shown that it can infect species across all 15 tribes of the subfamily Myrtoideae in the family Myrtaceae present in Australia P. psidii s.l., each with a slightly different host range P. psidii s.l. could transform many of the major natural ecosystems and forestry plantations.P. psidii s.l. Booth et al. P. psidii s.l. infection based on its known distribution in South America and the Caribbean. Most recently, Elith et al. P. psidii s.l. using known distribution data, including some from Hawai'i. While these models provided initial indications of the potential distribution of the rust, they were either based on empirical biological knowledge of the organism's response to environmental variables There have been at least three previous published attempts to estimate the geographic invasive potential of There are few methods that are well-equipped for estimating the potential distribution of an organism in a novel environment such as on a new continent or under climate change scenarios P. psidii s.l. present opportunities to study in greater detail the geographic and climatic limitations for the establishment of this pathogen. Distribution data from Hawai'i are particularly useful because the extremely steep climatic gradients cover a wide range of conditions within a very limited area. Further, Hawai'i also has some very susceptible hosts to P. psidii s.l. that are widespread. Despite being present in Hawai'i for a relatively short period of time, it is likely that P. psidii s.l. has had the opportunity to spread to all suitable climates available within the area. Given that the known distribution of P. psidii s.l. is primarily tropical, the highest altitude location records on the islands of Hawai'i are of most interest to biosecurity agencies, as these could indicate the cold tolerance limits for the pathogen. A caution in making use of this information is that Hawai'i has relatively few climate stations sampling very steep climatic gradients. The temperature variables are the most critical here. Fortunately, these are strongly influenced by altitude, so it is possible to use splining techniques to interpolate climatic averages reasonably accurately The recent invasion of California, Hawai'i, Japan, China and Australia P. psidii s.l., including its distribution in regions where recent incursions have occurred – California (2005), Hawai'i (2005), Japan (2007), China (2009) and Australia (2010) P. psidii s.l. from Australia was also performed to add to existing published data on other accessions from Brazil P. psidii s.l. with the distribution of potential Myrtaceae host plants, including threatened species and forestry plantations, to identify areas that are most at risk from the rust.In this study, we firstly gathered data on the worldwide distribution of P. psidii s.l. (DAR 81284) were produced on Syzygium jambos plants, and harvested as described in Morin et al. Urediniospores of a single-uredium isolate of Data analysis was performed using the statistical package R (release 2.13.0) P. psidii s.l. used to build the CLIMEX model was assembled from several sources. Booth et al. P. psidii s.l. comprised in the CABI Distribution Maps of Plant Diseases P. psidii s.l. based on all these sources is presented graphically in The historical distribution of The primary base climatology used to build the model was the CliMond 10′ climate normals centred on 1975 (CM10_1975H_V1_1) P. psidii s.l.  describes the potential for growth of the modelled organism as a function of average weekly soil moisture  and temperature  during favourable conditions only (W = TIW×MIW). Stress indices describing cold (CS), wet (WS), hot (HS), and dry (DS) and their interactions with one another can be used to describe the population response to climatically unfavourable conditions. The individual components of stress are combined into a stress index (SI) and a stress interaction index (SX) , which reflects the combined potential for population growth during favourable periods and survival during stressful periods . The annP. psidii s.l. included in this paper. Values for the Temperature Index parameters suggested by the experiment reported here are somewhat lower than the values indicated by experiments using Brazilian accessions of the rust P. psidii s.l. because the fitted cold stress temperature threshold (TTCS) is considerably different to the experimentally-estimated minimum temperature for development (DV0).The three main sources of information for fitting the Temperature Index function were the ecophysiological observations of Ruiz et al. While the Growth Index components are best informed by direct experimental observations P. psidii s.l. to thrive in the extremely wet areas to the north of Hilo on the island of Hawai'i, where the rust has been recorded. The lower soil moisture threshold for development (SM0) was adjusted downwards to allow it to persist barely at Misiones in south western Argentina, at the dry end of its distribution  was also employed in order to achieve a satisfactory fit to the known distribution data. The DTCS threshold of 17 degree days per week above DV0 (10°C) suggests that the pathosystem needs to be actively growing by a small amount each day in order to offset respiration losses; extended periods with insufficient heat could lead to population reductions as energy reserves are run down. Cold stress was used to limit the potential range of P. psidii s.l. near the single Bolivian record  was set to allow persistence at the highest elevation location record on the island of Maui in Hawai'i. Two forms of cold stress were employed in this model to limit further its potential to persist in cold climates. A monthly average daily minimum of 2.5°C is associated with frost events (about one per week). This limit for TTCS is probably associated with the temperature tolerances of the known hosts, rather than a direct physiological impact on n record . Using tP. psidii s.l. has not been recorded in areas experiencing drought stress, and from the general observation that it requires the presence of plant hosts that are sensitive to drought stress. Accordingly, the dry stress parameters were set to allow marginally suitable persistence at the driest location record on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Using these parameters, there is a considerable amount of dry stress (64%) at the single high elevation location record in Bolivia , hence the model specificity was only assessed subjectively.P. psidii s.l. in Australia was gauged by querying the Australian Virtual Herbarium P. psidii s.l. was modelled as having an EI>0. To estimate the geographical patterns of species richness of the putative host plants of P. psidii s.l. at the scale used for the climate modelling, the number of species records within each cell was summed, ignoring multiple records for the same species within each cell. Because of the fluid and inconsistent nature of the taxonomic classification of records at the sub-specific level, only genus and species epithets were considered when determining taxonomic uniqueness within each cell. To avoid biasing the diversity counts within each cell, where the species epithet was blank (1 926 records) or ‘sp’ (940 records) in the extracted herbarium dataset, the species field was filled with ‘sp.’ using the search and replace option in Microsoft Excel. The Myrtaceae species location records were then imported into ArcGIS 10.3  and spatially joined to the cell identifiers for the corresponding 10′ climate data, before being re-exported to Microsoft Excel, where the Remove Duplicates option was employed. A total of 121 377 non-unique combinations of genus, species and cell identifier were found and removed, leaving 59 814 taxonomically and geographically unique records. The unique records were re-imported into ArcGIS and spatially joined to the climate dataset. The species richness for Myrtaceae in each 10′ climate cell was then gauged by dividing the number of taxonomically unique records in each 10′ climate grid cell by the projected area in km2.The geographical distribution of potential Myrtaceae hosts of P. psidii s.l. was modelled as having an EI>0 was generated as above.A map of the Myrtaceae species listed as threatened under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act P. psidii s.l. based on the EI. For mapping purposes, the 10′ grid cells were used to indicate the presence of any hardwood forest coups identified in the Australian Land Use dataset V4 The major hardwood (Myrtaceae) and mixed hardwood and softwood forest plantations present in Australia were extracted from the Australian National Forest Inventory for 2010 18,18 = 85.2, P<0.001). More importantly, a plot of Pearson residuals (the difference between the observed and fitted proportions divided by the standard error of the fitted proportion) versus fitted model values revealed no bias or outliers  in the model were highly significant based on approximate measures of significance .P. psidii s.l. has invaded, there are several, highly climatically favourable areas throughout the State of Hawai'i , high elevation areas throughout Central Africa, and eastern coastal regions of South Africa and Madagascar , than was known from within its presumed native range in South America and the Caribbean. However, in the absence of more extensive surveys such as gradsect trapping P. psidii s.l. to be present, but undetected in cooler locations in the native range.The CLIMEX EI world map shows that all known recorded point locations for suitable , 4a, indP. psidii s.l. (EI>0)   or 6a. T. (EI>0) . Within . (EI>0) .P. psidii s.l. to persist (EI>0)  . The gret (EI>0) , Table 2t (EI>0) .Eucalyptus spp. are among the most widely planted species in the family Myrtaceae and are popular in many parts of the world as forestry resources with more than 20 million ha planted  P. psidii s.l., and depending on host suitability, the eucalyptus assets of regions that have not yet been invaded by the rust may be at risk if dispersal barriers are overcome.The family Myrtaceae comprises a large number of species that are widespread across the Australian continent, often occurring as major components of natural ecosystems P. psidii s.l. to Japan, China and Australia in the last few years, and the large spatial gaps involved, it would seem inevitable that the identified uninvaded risk areas could become invaded eventually. Biosecurity efforts should therefore be aimed at slowing its global spread with, for example, the use of relatively low-cost phytosanitary precautions, and the development and deployment of resistant host varieties, rather than attempting to prevent its spread through quarantine barriers. In regions where Myrtaceae are non-native, the numbers of valuable myrtaceaeous species are limited. This makes it potentially feasible to undertake programmes to develop and deploy plant varieties that are resistant to P. psidii s.l. In Brazil, for example, before resistant clones were deployed, P. psidii s.l. was reported to cause major damage in eucalyptus plantations, particularly in the first two years of planting P. psidii s.l.  are suitable.The model of Magarey et al. P. psidii s.l. complex. The “Puccinia_94” results in P. psidii s.l. and are taxonomically the most comparable to the CLIMEX model presented here, and generally accord reasonably well with our results. However, there are some notable contrasts in the MaxEnt and CLIMEX models. The CLIMEX results for current climate indicate that southern Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand are unsuitable for establishment, and indicate a larger area at risk in WA than indicated by the MaxEnt Puccina_94 model Elith et al. P. psidii s.l. in Australia presented in this paper shows the areas where epidemics may be more likely to be frequent and severe due to large numbers of different Myrtaceae species present. We hypothesise that regions rich in Myrtaceaeous species are more likely to contain one or more hosts susceptible to P. psidii s.l. Complementary development rates (e.g., P. psidii s.l. with suitable foliage for infection throughout several periods of the year. All else being equal, higher rust inoculum loads might develop in these areas, and thus pose a greater threat to susceptible hosts than in areas of lower Myrtaceae richness. By comparing the climate suitability map for P. psidii s.l. with the map of Myrtaceae species richness, it is possible to identify hypothetical hotspots for epidemics where the EI is projected to be optimal and the highest diversity of Myrtaceae is found. Those hotspots are located in a narrow strip along the eastern coast of NSW, including the Sydney Basin, in the Brisbane and Cairns areas in Queensland and in the coastal region from the south of Bunbury to Esperance in WA. Sites within these areas would be ideal to implement long-term monitoring experiments to quantify the impacts of P. psidii s.l. The map of species richness of Myrtaceae within the suitable climatic envelop for es e.g.,  and phenPuccinia psidii s.l. poses a new threat to plant species of the family Myrtaceae that are already recognised as threatened by a range of other factors under the Federal EPBC Act and/or various state Acts in Australia P. psidii s.l., and thus deserving surveillance and management attention. It remains to be established whether P. psidii s.l. poses an extinction risk to already threatened species, or whether background levels of resistance are sufficient for plant communities to adapt to the presence of this invasive rust.Puccinia psidii s.l. has so far only been reported on a few Eucalyptus spp. in native forests in Australia P. psidii s.l. Under current climate, the most northerly portion of Tasmania, an area dense with eucalypt plantations, appears suitable for P. psidii s.l. The only plantations that have no apparent risk of supporting persistent rust populations are those located in the Northern Territory.P. psidii s.l. via the nursery industry and wind-borne spores since its introduction in Australia P. psidii s.l. into Western Australia, supporting the efforts of biosecurity managers there to prevent its spread via human movement of infected plant material. At present, only a small area of Tasmania appears climatically suited for persistent populations of P. psidii s.l., although most of Tasmania is suitable to support some population growth. Under a warming climate we would expect this area of suitability to increase. The separation of Tasmania from mainland Australia via the Bass Straight may provide a hindrance to the spread of P. psidii s.l. into Tasmania, though the presence of islands in Bass Strait may provide the opportunity for a stepping-stone invasion pathway. Tasmanian biosecurity managers may wish to conduct routine surveillance of these islands with a view to eradicating isolated infections as a means of slowing the spread of P. psidii s.l. into Tasmania.Considering the rapid spread of P. psidii s.l. to Africa, most of Asia, south-western Europe and New Zealand were identified using well-established niche modelling methods. The post-border example for Australia presented in this paper demonstrates how these broad scale bioclimatic risk patterns can be downscaled to identify and quantify relative risks to assets within the climatically suitable range. By combining bioclimatic niche modelling with non-climatic factors such as host species richness, we are able to move beyond simply identifying invasion risks, to provide some insight into the potential impacts that invasive species might have if they expand their range into climatically suitable areas, and distinguishing between invasiveness and impact The modelling and analytical methods demonstrated in this paper can help biosecurity and conservation managers to identify areas at heightened risk from IAS. These methods add to pest risk mapping methods available to assist these managers to gauge the size or value of the threats and to target interventions to manage them


Mischocyttarus consimilis Zikáán (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). The study was carried out under field conditions. Nests of M. consimilis consist of a single uncovered comb, which is attached to the substratum by a single petiole. The data for the nest architecture showed a positive and significant correlation between the size of the comb and the diameter of the petiole, and also between the height and diameter of the cells. The nests were constructed on horizontal, vertical, and sloping substrata with no apparent preference for a specific orientation. The colonies produced 72.9 cells and 40.7 adults on average. The mean frequency of productive cells was 33.3%, and 19.4% of the cells were reused. The mean duration of the immature stages combined was 69.7 days and the egg, larval, and pupal stages had mean durations of 14.9, 36.0, and 18.8 days, respectively. The duration of each immature stage was significantly shorter in the warmhumid season, and the larval and pupal stages were shorter during the colony pre-emergence stage.This study examined the nest architecture, colony productivity, and duration of the immature stages of the social wasp  Polybia, the nest is formed by several combs covered by an envelope, and is attached to the substratum without a petiole .In metrotic . Severalmetrotic . Gamboa metrotic  observeda et al.  and Tibba et al.  observeda et al.  and Nadea et al. , for exa2 on the campus of the Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, in the municipal district of Dourados , state of Mato Grosso do Sul in central-western Brazil. The climate, according to the classification of Zavatini : length and diameter of the petiole, length and width of the nest, and length and width of the cells. For the study of productivity, the following parameters were analyzed (n = 14 nests): duration of the colonies, in days; number of cells constructed; number of adults produced; maximum number of generations in the most productive cells of the comb; and number of productive cells (cells that produced adults). The duration of the immature stage was measured from the total durations of the egg, larva, and pupa stages for each season. Those individuals in which the development continued through the two seasons were discarded from the sample. For the egg stage, only data for those eggs that remained in the same position in the cell from egg-laying to larval eclosion were used.Most of the colonies were observed from their foundation until they were abandoned. In order to find possible foundations, the study area was monitored weekly. Data were collected on established colonies three times a week on designated days . By this method, an accurate report of the productivity of each colony was obtained. In cases where it was not possible to identify the exact date of foundation, the information on adults' productivity was inferred from the number of meconia layers. The meconia layers were counted from a longitudinal section of each cell of the comb.t-test for two independent samples was used to examine for differences in the duration of the immature stage through the seasons and the stages of the colony. A level of significance of 0.05 was applied throughout.Correlation analyses were performed to determine the relationship between the variables of each nest, as well as between the variables of colony productivity. The M. consimilis are composed of a single, uncovered comb which is attached to the substratum by a single petiole that is invariably positioned in the central area of the comb and forms an angle of 90°° to the comb. For the eight nests analyzed    . The pet; n=191) . For eacM. consimilis to affix the nest  (The mean duration of the colonies of  ±± SEM) . Colonie ±± SEM) ; the sma ±± SEM) . Colonie ±± SEM) . The fre ±± SEM) . For evep=0.03; n=11), the number of cells constructed , and the number of productive cells  , the number of productive cells , and the number of reused cells . The number of adults produced was associated with the number of productive cells  and the number of reused cells . An association was also found between the number of productive cells and the number of reutilizations of cells .The correlation analysis demonstrated that the longevity of the colonies affected the number of adults produced  . The sizThe durations of the egg, larval, and pupal stages were 14.9 ±± 0.3; 36.0 ±± 0.8, and 18.8 ±± 0.4 days, respectively (Mean ±± SEM) . TherefoM. consimilis is similar to that described for other groups with independent foundation within the Polistinae, and is classified as ““gymnodomous-stelocyttarous”” (M. consimilis differs from other, similar species in the same study area, for instance M. cerberus, which has an outlying petiole (M. consimilis the location for the colony was selected independently of the orientation of the substratum. This pattern is different from P. biglumis, which prefers to place its colonies on vertical substrata, and P. snelleni which nests exclusively on horizontal substrata (The architecture of the nests of tarous”” . The cha petiole . Seemingubstrata .P. fuscatus and P. instabilis. In those groups, the increase in petiole diameter is partly associated with the application of wood pulp (Polistes, and by Yamane (P.chinensis.The relationship between the diameter of the petiole and the number of cells in the comb was similar to the results reported by Downing and Jeanne  for P. food pulp . These aood pulp  for eighy Yamane  for declM. consimilis, cells continued to be added and adults produced throughout the year. This constant production is a result of the asynchrony in the colony cycle of tropical species, in which colonies in different phases occur simultaneously in the population in every season of the year. The results of this study demonstrated that longer-lived colonies, independently of the season, produced more cells and therefore grew larger consequently containing more productive and reutilized cells (M. consimilis had a longer mean duration than those described by Rocha et al. (M. cearensis and by Penna et al. (M. drewseni. However, the numbers of cells constructed and adults produced were similar to the observations of Penna et al. (M. cassununga, although lower than the values estimated by Penna et al. (M. drewseni.In colonies of ed cells . These ca et al.  for M. ca et al.  for M. da et al.  for the a et al.  for the M. cerberus and M. cassununga.Although new cells were constructed continuously during the entire colony cycle, the great majority were unproductive . HoweverM. flavitarsis, and Giannotti and Fieri (M. cassununga. The duration of the larval stage in M. consimilis was longer than those reported for other congeners. Jeanne (M. drewseni, Litte (M. mexicanus, and Silva and Oliveira (M. atramentarius. The duration of the pupal stage was similar to those described for other species of the genus. Litte (M. flavitarsis, and later (M. labiatus.The duration of the egg stage was similar to the values reported for other species of the same genus. Litte  estimatend Fieri  reported. Jeanne  reportedi, Litte  estimateOliveira  estimates. Litte  describend later  estimateGiannotti  suggesteM. consimilis, the larval stage is shorter in pre-emergence colonies. Clouse (M. mexicanus the larval development is shorter in pre-emergence colonies initiated by small groups, and the duration increases significantly with the number of foundresses. It is probable that a larger number of adults would increase the per-capita foraging capacity. These data suggest that the adults can manipulate larval development because the larvae are completely dependent on them for food. On this subject, Gamboa (P. metricus during the pre-emergence colony stage, but no evidence was found for a synergistic action of the number of adults on this acceleration.Other approaches suggest that larval development in pre-emergence colonies in primitively eusocial wasps may be influenced indirectly by the incidence of predation at the nest sites. As a way of increasing the number of adults and consequently the defense potential of the colony, the foundress may accelerate the development of the first larvae (In . Clouse  reported, Gamboa  demonstrt larvae . Gamboa t larvae  and Itôôt larvae  showed tt larvae .


Rickettsia slovaca, Rickettsia raoultii and more recently Bartonella henselae have been associated with this syndrome.In 25 to 35% of cases, the aetiological agent of scalp eschar and neck lymphadenopathy after a tick bite remains undetermined. To date, Francisella tularensis DNA was found in the skin biopsy and the serology showed titres consistent with tularaemia.A four-year-old Caucasian boy was admitted to hospital with fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. On physical examination, an inflammatory and suppurating eschar was seen on the scalp, with multiple enlarged cervical lymph nodes on both sides. Although no tick was found in this scalp lesion, a diagnosis of tick-borne lymphadenopathy was suggested, and explored by serology testing and polymerase chain reaction of a biopsy from the eschar. F. tularensis.This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first reported case of scalp eschar and neck lymphadenopathy after tick bite infection caused by  In 2002f TIBOLA . Later, DEBONEL) . To dateh TIBOLA . Very rehenselae  and renahenselae . These dA four-year-old Caucasian boy was admitted to the hospital for fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. On physical examination, an inflammatory and suppurating eschar was seen on the scalp Figure  without Upon subsequent questioning, the child reported that he lived near a forest and was frequently bitten by ticks, approximately once or twice a week, particularly on the scalp. Although no tick was found in this scalp lesion, a diagnosis of TIBOLA was suggested and explored by serology and PCR of the eschar biopsy.F. tularensis using primers and probes targeting the yqaB gene with PCR carried out in a thermal cycler . The real-time PCR screen was positive for Francisella tularensis DNA in the skin biopsy, and negative for Rickettsia, Bartonella and Borrelia. spp., and for Coxiella burnetii. This result was confirmed by PCR of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, which was found to be 99.8% identical to the GenBank sequence for F. tularensis (BK006741). The initial serology test, an indirect immunofluorescence assay, was negative. Three weeks later, further serology tests showed titres consistent with tularemia, including titres for IgG of 1: 400 and IgM of 1:100. To confirm the serological result, western blotting was performed on our patient's serum, which showed that F. tularensis was the causative agent. Concomitant indirect immunofluorescence assays for Rickettsia and Bartonella spp., C. burnetii and Borrelia burgdorferi were negative.DNA was extracted from tissue samples . The eschar biopsy was screened by real-time PCR for We treated our patient with doxycycline. The eschar and lymphadenopathy decreased after two weeks of treatment.F. tularensis is the causative agent of tularemia, a bacterial zoonotic disease of the northern hemisphere. A wide range of arthropod vectors has been implicated in the transmission of F. tularensis between mammalian hosts. These vectors, particularly the Dermacentor, Amblyomma and Ixodes sp ticks. can also transmit the pathogen to humans [F. tularensis was first isolated from Dermacentor andersoni by Parker in 1924. Tick-borne transmission of tularemia is now known to occur throughout the northern hemisphere, with varying degrees of frequency in different geographic regions [o humans ,8. F. tu regions . In the  regions . Tularem regions .F. tularensis. Neither scalp eschar nor neck lymphadenopathy due to F. tularensis have been described in the literature. Eschar is usually observed on the legs in cases of tick-borne tularemia [In summary, we report the first case of SENLAT infection caused by ularemia .R. slovaca, R. raoultii, B. henselae, B. burgdorferi and perhaps F. tularensis [SENLAT is a clinical entity most common in young children and women during colder seasons, and it is associated with larensis . Howeverlarensis .The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Written informed consent was obtained from the parents of the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.SE wrote the initial manuscript, reviewed the patient notes and reviewed the literature on TIBOLA. KG and YT were responsible for patient care. EA and CS assisted in writing the manuscript. DR fully reviewed the final submission. All authors read and approved the final manuscript and participated in this case study.


Limenitis arthemis provides a case in point. This species is comprised of three lineages, two of which are mimetic and one of which is non-mimetic. Conflicting estimates of the relationships among these three lineages requires direct evaluation of the alternative hypotheses of mimicry evolution.The processes governing the origin and maintenance of mimetic phenotypes can only be understood in a phylogenetic framework. Phylogenetic estimates of evolutionary relationships can provide a context for analyses of character evolution; however, when phylogenetic estimates conflict, rigorous analyses of alternative evolutionary histories are necessary to determine the likelihood of a specific history giving rise to the observed pattern of diversity. The polyphenic butterfly L. a. arthemis and the mimetic L. a. astyanax, congruent with the previous hypothesis that the non-mimetic form of L. a. arthemis was derived from a mimetic ancestor. We found no support for a mimetic clade (L. a. astyanax + L. a. arizonensis) despite analyzing numerous models of population structure.Using a coalescent framework, we found support for a sister-taxon relationship between the non-mimetic These results provide the foundation for future studies of mimicry, which should integrate phylogenetic and developmental analyses of wing pattern formation. We propose future analyses of character evolution accommodate conflicting phylogenetic estimates by explicitly testing alternative evolutionary hypotheses. Batesian mimicry and the conditions favoring its origin and maintenance have provided insight to the process of natural selection. Central to our understanding of Batesian mimicry is the evolutionary fate of mimics in the absence of their model. That is, once a profitable species evolves to mimic an unprofitable Batesian model, what happens in time or space when the model is not present? The Batesian mimic could persist in locations without its model, especially when predation is weak ,2. A mimEmpirical phylogenetic trees are estimations, or hypotheses, of the true evolutionary history of a given group, based on a fit to observed data . Such trees can be used as a "best estimate" for studies of character evolution, especially when trees based on different analyses and data converge on the same estimate of evolutionary relationships. But how to proceed with analyses of character evolution when phylogenetic estimates conflict with one another? One approach is to compare trees on the basis of some objective function , and simply interpret the tree with the best score as the true evolutionary history. However, because empirical phylogenetic tree estimates do not always reflect true evolutionary history ,6, inferThe necessity of evaluating support for alternative phylogenetic hypotheses has been recognized for some time , but hasLimenitis (Fabricius)  has long been a model for the study of Batesian mimicry and is an ideal system to employ phylogenetic hypothesis testing. Three of the four North American species include populations which are Batesian mimics of distasteful models [Limenitis arthemis (Drury) includes two populations, L. a. astyanax (Fabricius) and L. a. arizonensis Edwards, which are mimics of the distasteful model Battus philenor (L.) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), and a non-mimetic population, L. a. arthemis (Drury), characterized by a disruptive non-mimetic wing pattern [Aristolochia spp.), which limits the distribution of the model [L. a. astyanax and the non-mimetic L. a. arthemis [L. a. arthemis has elicited recent attention [The butterfly genus l models -14. Lime pattern ,15. The arthemis , differittention .Limenitis relationships posit that the mimetic L. a. arizonensis diverged from a lineage which eventually gave rise to the mimetic L. a. astyanax and the non-mimetic L. a. arthemis [L. a. astyanax and L. a. arizonensis form a clade [L. a. arthemis, or was gained two times, once in L. a. astyanax and once in L. a. arizonensis [L. arthemis and the model B. philenor, Prudic & Oliver [L. arthemis lineage and was subsequently lost in L. a. arthemis after the divergence of L. a. arthemis and L. a. astyanax , wingless (wg), kettin, and lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh)) and four anonymous loci  . The observed value of the test statistic δ is thus 93-108 = -15, reflecting a better fit of the L. a. arthemis + L. a. astyanax tree  the relative fit of the simulated data to the two hypotheses of evolution in  the relaescences  between a figure . For thee figure  to the oLimenitis evolution, we calculated the minimum number of deep coalescences under a species tree corresponding to the topology of the model being tested. That is, for MM models, we calculated the minimum number of deep coalescences in a species tree with a L. a. arizonensis + L. a. astyanax, while for R models, we calculated the minimum number of deep coalescences in a species tree with L. a. arthemis + L. a. astyanax. It is important to note that the two test statistics  are not independent, but both are necessary to measure support for each model. The former is necessary to evaluate if, under a particular model, one topological relationship is better supported than another, while second is used to determine if the simulated gene trees have been generated under models that could represent the true evolutionary history. Only models in which the observed values of both test statistics fell within the 95% simulated distributions were considered supported. Models in which the 95% simulated distribution did not include observed values were rejected. All statistics were calculated using the Mesquite software system [As a second metric of support for the models of e system .L. arthemis corresponding to the monophyletic mimic hypothesis (MM models) were supported as none of these models produced simulated results which fulfilled both criteria for support. All MM models produced gene trees with poorer fit for a species tree with L. a. astyanax sister to L. a. arthemis than observed in empirical gene trees. That is, values for δ were consistently higher in MM models than our observed value of δ = -15, although for some MM models the 95% simulated distribution of the absolute fit  did include observed values .A summary of the support for each model is shown in table L. a. arthemis + L. a. astyanax tree as well as observed data, and the absolute fit to this species tree matched the observed gene trees. One model, R1, with a very recent divergence of L. a. arthemis and L. a. astyanax, produced gene trees which showed a significantly better fit to a L. a. astyanax + L. a. arthemis species tree than did the observed gene tree estimates, and thus was not supported. The divergence of the mimetic from non-mimetic lineage in model R1 was based on the divergence time estimate of Mullen et al. [L. a. astyanax + L. a. arthemis tree than did the observed gene tree estimates. In models R2 and R3, with L. a. astyanax sister to L. a. arthemis, the 95% distribution of the absolute fit  included the observed value (table Of the three models corresponding to the reversion hypothesis (R models), only one, R2, was supported by both criteria. This model produced gene trees which fit a n et al. . ConversL. a. arthemis and mimetic L. a. astyanax was supported by our analyses. , which would increase the fit of the gene trees to a L. a. astyanax + L. a. arthemis species tree, the simulated distribution of δ was still significantly higher than the observed value .The key to understanding the evolution of mimicry within this group will require integration of geographical and developmental approaches. Extensive geographical sampling and geographically explicit models of population structure will be necessary to determine the extent of gene flow between volution . Future volution ,28. ThisL. arthemis, rejected the hypothesis that L. a. astyanax and L. a. arizonensis are sister taxa [Hypothesis tests based on mitochondrial  and nuclter taxa  and founJCO and KLP designed the study. JCO developed and performed analyses. JCO and KLP drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.GenBank accession numbers for sequences used in this study. GenBank accession numbers for all genetic data used in phylogenetic tree estimation.Click here for fileGene tree estimation and parameter estimates. Details of Bayesian gene tree estimation and sources of parameters used in simulations.Click here for fileGene tree estimates of eight nuclear loci. Bayesian phylogenies of North American Limenitis taxa.Click here for fileLimenitis divergencesModels of North American . Schematic of relationships among North American Limenitis lineages used in coalescent simulations.Click here for fileSimulated distributions of the test statistic δ. Frequency distribution for the test statistic δ simulated in 15 models of population structure.Click here for fileSimulated distributions of the minimum number of deep coalescences. Frequency distribution for the number of deep coalescences simulated in 15 models of population structure.Click here for file


Microplitis prodeniae Rao and Chandry (Hymenoptera: Bracondidae) and Campoletis chlorideae Uchida (Hymenoptera: Ichnumonidae) are major parasitoids of Spodoptera litura (Fabricious) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum L.  at Nanxiong, Guangdong Province, South China. The niches and interspecific competition relationships of the two species were studied. The results show that the competition between the two species for spatial and food resources was very intense, and C. chlorideae was always dominant when the two species compete for spatial and food resources in different periods. Thus C. chlorideae may drive M. prodeniae away when they occupy the same spatial or food resource. The adaptability of C. chlorideae to the environment in the tobacco fields may be greater than that of M. prodeniae, so C. chlorideae can maintain a higher population compared to that of M. prodeniae.Both  In nature, some species live together in the same or in similar niches because they have one or several kinds of similar behaviors, thus one species often conflicts with the other one for food resources. Interspecific competition is defined as a reduction in individual fecundity, survival, or growth as a result of exploitation of resources or by interference with individuals of another species . A superDrosophila coexisted in a spatially divided system, where the inferior species was eliminated in an undivided system.According to the conventional niche theory, the primary determinant of interspecific competition is the overlap and the similarity of the resources used (niche overlap or niche similarity). Two species with highly similar fundamental niches  will often compete strongly with each other when they first meet . This waRecent reviews have shown that interspecific competition is widespread among insects . CompetiMicroplitis prodeniae Rao and Chandry (Hymenoptera: Bracondidae) and Campoletis chlorideae Uchida (Hymenoptera: Ichnumonidae) are both major parasitoid wasps in tobacco fields. In general, both M. prodeniae and C. chlorideae prefer to parasitize the young instar larvae of hosts, and the two parasitoids emerge from the body of the host when the host larvae is in the third instar. Thus they play an important role in the control of the oriental leafworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricious) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)  , and reg. litura . The biosearched , but a st decade . HoweverNicotiana tabacum L. , fields, and S. litura (Fabricious), Helicoverpa assulta Guenée and Helicoverpa armigera Hübner often occur together in tobacco fields in this research station. Several fields, where serious damage was caused by these three species, were taken as the target fields of investigation. The acreage of each of these experimental fields was about 6670 m2.This study was conducted in the tobacco field at the experimental farm of Nanxiong Research Institute of Tobacco, Nanxiong, Guangdong Province. There are 300 ha tobacco, N. tabacum 9601 variety was planted on 20 February 2006, and the density was 1.7–1.8 plants / m2.S. litura on the different positions of tobacco plants (n = 80) were collected by “random sample” every time, and the living larvae from the different positions were taken back to the laboratory. Then they were bred in separate cages, respectively, and fed fresh tobacco leaves every day. The parasitic rates of M. prodeniae and C. chlorideae on S. litura larvae from different positions were recorded when the parasitoid adults emerged from the bodies of S. litura larvae.Investigations were conducted from 10 May to 3 June in 2006 at the experimental farm of Nanxiong Research Institute of Tobacco. Spatial vertical resources in tobacco plants were divided into three even grades containing upper leaves, mid-leaves and underneath leaves, and temporal resources were divided into five even grades by investigation times . Investigations took place once every five days. Second instar larvae of S. litura, H. assulta and H. armigera). Investigation was carried out once every five days. Second instar larvae from S. litura, H. assulta and H. armigera (n = 80) were collected by “random sample” every time. The living larvae of these three species were taken back laboratory, and they were bred in different cages. Fresh tobacco leaves were given to them every day, and the parasitic rates of M. prodeniae and C. chlorideae on the larvae from these three species were recorded when the parasitoid adults emerged from the bodies of the larvae of these three species.Investigations were conducted from 8 May to 19 June in 2006 at the experimental farm of Nanxiong Research Institute of Tobacco. Trophic resources were divided into three grades . In this formula, B is niche breadth of species, S is the number of resource grades and iP is the fraction of all resources that belong to i-th grade resource used by the species  and , respectively, where ijL is the nicrie overlap index value and species j is overlapped by species I; ijC is the proportion similarity of the niches of species i and species j, ihP and jhP are the fractions of total resources which belong to h-th grade resource used by species i and by species j, respectively; and iB is the niche breadth of species i . This was the same as for C. chlorideae, but exceptions were noticed on 3 June and 16 May. In addition, the spatial niche breadths of M. prodeniae were lower than those of C. chlorideae, but an exception was observed on 10 May. The results indicated that the active scopes of the two species in the early growth stages of tobacco were more extensive than those in the later growth stages of tobacco, and the active scope of M. prodeniae was smaller than that of C. chlorideae. The spatial niche overlap values of M. prodeniae were lower than those of C. chlorideae, suggesting that M. prodeniae was always a passive species when the spatial niche overlap occurred between the two species. In general, both the spatial niche proportion similarity and the interspecific competition coefficient between the two species were high during these experiments, revealing that the competition often happened between the two species when they occupied the same spatial resources in different stages. The spatial niche proportion similarity and interspecific competition coefficient between the two species were higher in the early growth stages than in the late growth stages of tobacco. The results show that severe competition between the two species happened in the early growth stages of tobacco  is larger than that of an M. prodeniae adult (3.2–3.5 mm). Tian et al. (Microplitis mediator could physically attack the larvae of C. chlorideae because when host larvae were parasitized simultaneously by M. mediator and C. chlorideae, the majority of the cocoons produced were of M. mediator. However, whether the larvae of M. prodeniae could be physically attacked by the larvae of C. chlorideae, has yet to be determined.From these conclusions, it is suggested that the two species often conflict over spatial resources and food resources and that the competitive abilities of n et al.  reportedC. chlorideae was wider than that of M. prodeniae. In general, M. prodeniae could only parasitize S. litura larvae, but C. chlorideae could parasitize the larvae of three major lepidopterous pests, S. litura, H. assulta and H. armigera in the tobacco fields (C. chlorideae to the environment in tobacco fields was better than that of M. prodeniae, and C. chlorideae retained a higher population compared with M. prodeniae. The results of these experiments suggest that the control of insect pests with C. chlorideae is feasible when S. litura, H. assulta and H. armigera occur together in the fields.According to the trophic niche breadths of the two species, the host range of o fields . Consequ


Streptococci and oral anaerobes. DNM associated with Lactobacillus-infection is rather rare.Descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM), a severe infection with a high fatality rate, develops in mediastinal spaces due mainly to deep cervical abscesses. The majority of causative microbes of DNM are Lactobacillus plantarum was isolated from surgical drainage of a mediastinal abscess. Despite using antibiotics capable of eradicating all isolates with susceptibilities not differing significantly from those of the neck and mediastinal abscesses, we attributed DNM to the L. plantarum detected only in the mediastinal abscess. After DNM treatment, he underwent total pharyngolaryngectomy with bilateral neck dissection followed by reconstruction using free jejunum. He was discharged fully recovered.A 69-year-old male with an unremarkable past medical history was referred to our hospital for surgical resection of advanced laryngeal cancer. Full examination revealed a neck abscess and DNM with a background of untreated diabetes mellitus. Initially, he was treated with meropenem. However, L. plantarum as the sole cause of the mediastinal abscess in the present case cannot be ruled out. As the number of immunocompromised patients increases, we should be cautious regarding this “familiar” microbe.We concluded that  Streptococci and oral anaerobes , ultimately confirming L. plantarum infection.Though the isolates were identified as escribed , and a ssequence . The resL. plantarum but also to F. necrophorum, P. melanogenica, and Str. anginosus/milleri groups, cultured from the neck abscess before the diagnosis of DNM. However, only L. plantarum was obtained from the mediastinal abscess. No L. plantarum was isolated from the neck abscess. It was unclear why only L. plantarum was isolated from the mediastinal abscess by direct puncture via thoracic surgery.The origin of the abscess in our patient was difficult to identify, but we suspect the most likely source to have been his oropharyngeal flora. Mediastinal abscess formation is known to be closely related to cervical abscess development and in this case appeared to be comprised of polymicrobial infectious organisms resembling isolates from the neck abscess. It was reasonable to consider the infectious source in this case to most likely have been the oropharyngeal lumen in the view of both the neck abscess and DNM. If so, in this case, the mediastinal abscess was due not only to 90, μg/ml): F. necrophorum 0.25 [P. melanogenica 0.25 [Str. anginosus /milleri groups 0.12 [90 and MIC of L.plantarum obtained from thoracic surgery (0.5) did not differ significantly. If there was no difference in antibiotic shift into tissue between the neck and mediastinal abscesses, L. plantarum would also be eradicated, along with the other organisms isolated, by meropenem. However, only L. plantarum was isolated from the surgical specimen, despite using the same culture method as that employed for the neck abscess. Though the majority of DNM cases are attributed to polymicrobial infection and we obtained other isolates which may have been involved in DNM from the neck site, we concluded that L. plantarum alone may have been responsible for the present mediastinal abscess.We suspected that the phenomenon observed in this patient was attributable to the pharmacodynamics of antibiotics. We initially treated the neck abscess with meropenem, which effectively eradicated all of these isolates. Though we did not measure the MICs of neck isolates, according to previous records, the susceptibilities of organisms from the neck cultures to meropenem were .We experienced a case of DNM case associated with an extraordinarily rare microbe, Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this Case Report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent form is available for review by the Editor of this journal.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Conception and drafting of the report; TN, IM, KY, KS and RS, Thoracic surgical management; IM, AS, JO and SH, Pharyngolaryngeal surgical management; SI, KY and MN. Clinical treatment and antimicrobial therapy; TN, IM, AS and JO, Genomic identification of isolates; RS. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/13/398/prepub


Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention — Solving the Weight of the Nation  report on e Nation , the urgn Making , in the n Making  and a coBridging the Evidence Gap report explains that timely and credible evidence is needed to help decision makers decide what to do and understand how to do it, distinguish actions that are likely to be effective from those that are not, justify particular actions in high-risk populations, quantify likely effects, estimate costs and cost-effectiveness, set priorities regarding specific outcomes, determine who benefits, and anticipate potential problems. The report sponsors — Kaiser Permanente, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — were motivated by their perception that effective approaches to obesity prevention were proving difficult to identify, creating a risk that ongoing efforts to address the problem would be ill-conceived or haphazard.Decisions about obesity prevention are being made daily in communities, states, and countries worldwide. The Bridging the Evidence Gap report and related summaries, as well as the presentations from 2 workshops convened by the committee, are available from IOM at www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Bridging-the-Evidence-Gap-in-Obesity-Prevention-A-Framework-to-Inform-Decision-Making.aspx.Below we describe the evidence framework that resulted from the study committee’s consensus process and provide some examples of how it can be applied to evaluate existing evidence and inform the generation of new evidence. The full Early in its deliberations, the study committee decided that it would be essential to understand how various forms of evidence are generated and used in obesity prevention efforts and are related to core concepts in the broader sphere of evidence-based public health (EBPH) ,3. This Described by Kohatsu et al, EBPH is a process of integrating science-based interventions with community preferences to improve the health of populations . As in eTo align with the core concepts of EBPH, approaches and tools should be geared to the types of research and practice issues that arise in public health ,7. For eAlthough to date few approaches to EBPH have been systems-based, evidence gathering and use in the L.E.A.D. framework has a systems perspective . PreciseThe L.E.A.D. framework adapts an EBPH typology recommended by the International Obesity Task Force ,9 for spThe L.E.A.D. framework identifies several different types of evidence and study designs that can be useful for informing decisions about obesity prevention and provides resources and explanations in the report narrative and appendices. L.E.A.D. does not imply lowering standards for the quality of evidence used in public health compared with medicine. Rather, it introduces the concept that broader and different standards are needed to account for the complexity and practicalities associated with issues that arise in obesity prevention and other public health problems . Evidence sources may be quantitative or qualitative or a combination of both and may come from academic research, program evaluations, surveys, polls, reports, or policy documents related to obesity or to other public health issues from which parallels can be drawn. Specific study designs and methods identified in the report include experiments and quasi-experiments, qualitative research, mixed methods, evidence synthesis methods, parallel evidence, and expert knowledge. The point is to be systematic but much more inclusive when determining what constitutes useful evidence related to a particular question. Evidence quality is then to be evaluated by standards appropriate to that type of evidence rather than by a single standard. Examples of existing criteria for assessing quality of evidence from these different methods are provided.One way that EBPH differs from EBM is that it relies less on randomized controlled trials and more on approaches that assess external validity. Study design cannot be the sole criterion for whether evidence is useful. A randomized controlled trial is the most rigorous design for hypothesis testing  but is nGuide to Community Preventive Services framework for translating evidence into recommendations, the RE-AIM framework  for translating research into practice, the Health Canada risk assessment and management framework, the International Obesity Task Force obesity prevention portfolio approach for selecting a set of interventions, and the Green and Kreuter framework for identifying program components and interventions   a statement of the question, 2) a transparent description of the strategy used to locate the evidence, 3) a table reporting the evidence, and 4) a summary of the evidence organized as answers to the EBPH-derived questions . Becausetching”) ,15-19.In addition to the systems perspective, recognizing opportunities to generate new evidence is also recommended as a theme of the L.E.A.D. framework. Such opportunities might arise at any stage of the process. Generation of new evidence is critical not only because of the dearth of suitable evidence about obesity-relevant environmental and policy changes but also to keep the evidence base current with the dynamics of the obesity problem. The “why,” “what,” and “how” questions in Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living Community Health Initiative (HEAL-CHI)BackgroundObesity is a major health problem among both adults and children in the United States ,21. In CContextReversing the obesity epidemic requires a sustained effort at multiple levels, including environmental and policy changes . Since cEvidence BaseGuide to Community Preventive Services has made a positive recommendation  endation , on the endation  that hasAs recommended in the L.E.A.D. framework, an approach to increasing the evidence base is to evaluate community interventions that either attempt to implement existing programs such as CATCH or create new programs developed by schools and communities themselves. Although these evaluations do not use experimental designs, they follow the recommendations in the LE.A.D. report that advocate for taking advantage of all opportunities to increasing the evidence and exploring alternative, nonexperimental research designs.Lessons and Future DirectionsThe HEAL-CHI evaluation used a logic model approach to assessing intervention impact that combined estimates of the reach and strength of the interventions with population-level measures of physical activity, nutrition, and overweight . In particular, we assessed whether there were significant positive population-level changes where “high-dose”  interventions were implemented. The information about reach and strength came from independent assessments of the number of people exposed and the intensity of the interventions. For example, one high-dose intervention was an after school physical activity program that one-quarter of all children participated in that added 20 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Results indicated that in almost half of the cases (4 of 9) where high-dose interventions were implemented, significant positive changes favored the intervention. For example, in the community implementing the after-school physical activity program, the percentage of seventh graders doing vigorous physical activity at least 20 minutes per day increased from 61% to 67%, while the percentage in comparison communities declined from 56% to 51%.ImplicationsThe HEAL-CHI initiative used L.E.A.D. thinking at several points — both in applying criteria for interventions and in evaluating the results. Our experience suggests that L.E.A.D. may be a useful approach for incorporating evidence into community-based obesity prevention initiatives. The L.E.A.D. framework encourages both taking a broader view of the existing evidence and using an array of designs in doing evaluations that add to the evidence base. If the L.E.A.D. framework is widely adopted, publishing results such as those we found in the HEAL-CHI initiative in peer-reviewed publications will be easier.Bridging the Evidence Gap report directs recommendations to decision makers in the policy and programmatic arenas as well as to those who fund, generate, and publish evidence about obesity prevention and other complex public health challenges. Central themes are to apply the L.E.A.D. framework as a guide in the use and generation of evidence and to incorporate systems-thinking into research activities. The report also recommends the development of resources to support evidence-based public policy decision making and research, including researcher training, compendiums of knowledge, registries of implementation experience, and guidance on standards for evidence evaluation where they are lacking. The need for a public-private consortium to take up dissemination, support for, and further development of the L.E.A.D. framework is emphasized.The Bridging the Evidence Gap report was released, it has gained visibility among potential users. The report page on the IOM website has generated more than 17,000 page views. The L.E.A.D. framework has been presented at national and international meetings and cited in journal articles and policy documents. Scanning approximately 40 identified citations indicates that most have involved referencing the report in support of the importance of developing comprehensive multistakeholder and multisectoral strategies, taking a systems perspective, or using expanded approaches to evidence-gathering or choice of study designs. Applications of the framework reflected in published documents include a CDC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity fact sheet that explains how the framework relates to potential uses of their research and practice-based initiatives, evidence sources, and guidance documents (In the approximately 2 years since the ocuments ; adaptatocuments ; use of ocuments ; use of ocuments ,34; and What does this mean for obesity prevention and for advancing appreciation for the science and practice of EBPH? The answer depends on further use of frameworks such as L.E.A.D. In an ideal sense, L.E.A.D. could become a transformative and integrative EBPH paradigm and tool, as intended by the IOM study committee that developed it. The transformational aspect is the positioning of evidence needs in a public health context and demonstrating that rigor and relevance can be achieved using EBPH concepts and tools. Advances in obesity prevention will depend in part on articulating the value of multiple and varied types of information for answering policy and practice questions. If widely adopted and used, L.E.A.D. could become a critical component of identifying and using evidence-informed strategies for achieving national health objectives . Such us


Acrocephalus orinus) in museums and in the wild significantly expanded our knowledge of its morphological traits and genetic variability, and revealed new data on geographical distribution of the breeding grounds, migration routes and wintering locations of this species. It is now certain that A. orinus is breeding in Central Asia; however, the precise area of distribution remains unclear. The difficulty in the further study of this species lies in the small number of known specimens, with only 13 currently available in museums, and in the relative uncertainty of the breeding area and habitat of this species. Following morphological and genetic analyses from Svensson, et al, we describe 14 new A. orinus specimens from collections of Zoological Museums of the former USSR from the territory of Central Asian states. All of these specimens were erroneously labeled as Blyth's Reed Warbler (A. dumetorum), which is thought to be a breeding species in these areas. The 14 new A. orinus specimens were collected during breeding season while most of the 85 A. dumetorum specimens from the same area were collected during the migration period. Our data indicate that the Central Asian territory previously attributed as breeding grounds of A. dumetorum is likely to constitute the breeding territory of A. orinus. This rare case of a re-description of the breeding territory of a lost species emphasizes the importance of maintenance of museum collections around the world. If the present data on the breeding grounds of A. orinus are confirmed with field observations and collections, the literature on the biology of A. dumetorum from the southern part of its range may have to be reconsidered.Recent discovery of the Large-billed Reed Warbler ( A. orinus, the Large-billed Reed Warbler, which has been recently found to be breeding in the southern area of Tajikistan A. orinus as a separate and non-extinct species. The recent discovery of 11 new museum specimens of A. orinus, including one specimen from Kazakhstan A. dumetorum museum collections, suggesting that A. orinus can easily be overlooked as this species. These two factors, the sites of the collected A. orinus specimens in the breeding season on the south border of the territory of the former USSR and the distribution of A. dumetorum in the Central Asian countries, led us to examine more closely the available collections of A. dumetorum from the southern extension of its breeding range.Since the publication of reviews on the distribution of birds in the former USSR A. dumetorum. Thus, starting in the summer 2009 we have undertaken a large survey of specimens labeled as A. dumetorum in the ornithological collections of several museums located on the territories of the former USSR. Following Svensson, et al. A. orinus from among the specimens labeled as A. dumetorum (see Methods). Specifically, A. orinus was distinguished by a longer, slightly broader and duller bill, longer and more graduated tail, with the outer tail feathers substantially shorter than the central tail feathers and finally by a longer hind claw , listed in A. orinus specimens DNA isolation was successful for 12 cases, with unsuccessful isolation for one century-old sample from a high confidence A. orinus, two older than a century samples from low confidence specimens and two specimens from NUUz from which we did not obtain skin samples  was consistent with a large-billed A. dumetorum while the measurement of the hind claw approached lower-range measurements of A. orinus. In contrast, the three high confidence specimens for which we did not obtain genomic DNA sequence were morphologically more different from A. dumetorum  we found two adult males collected near Kulyab or Kulob (South Tajikistan) on May 19, 1910 by M.N. Divnogorsky. Curiously, on May 3, Divnogorsky collected in the same location a Blyth's Reed Warbler female, which we confirmed by genetic analysis (SDM 6629/1206).In the collection of ZMMU we found 7 specimens of Large-billed Reed Warbler. One of them was an adult male collected by L.S. Stepanyan on May 27, 1971 near Shirvoz, in the Barvoz forest of the Shakhdara River valley, Gorno-Badakhshan (Kuhistoni-Badakhshon) in the Autonomous Province (GB AP) of Tajikistan. Also, a series of 4 adult males and 2 adult females were collected by B.N. Gurov on June 13–22 1976 near Barsem Village GB AP of Tajikistan.A. dumetorum from the south of Central Asia. Among them we identified three adult males as A. orinus. Two of these birds were collected by V.M. Loskot, on May 31, 1968 in Shakhdara River valley near Khorog (Khorugh) GB AP of Tajikistan, and one by N.L. Klestov on June 19, 1979 in Barvoz forest, Shakhdara, GB AP of Tajikistan.Based on the catalog of ornithological collections of ZMAU A. orinus, both collected by D.N. Kashkarov. One was collected on May 19, 1926 near Biylyu-Kul Lake, Jambyl Province of Kazakhstan and another on June 23, 1927 near Chimgan or Chimgon in Tashkent Province of Uzbekistan.In the collection NUUz, that maintains the collection of N.A. Zarudny, we identified two adult males as A. orinus from the ZMMU collections are true specimens of A. orinus, one (R–36373) collected on August 2, 1879 on the Kunges river  and one (R–65803) collected on August 21, by an unidentified collected prior to 1918 as judged by the style of the writing on the label. Because of underdeveloped features of these young males it is not possible to make this distinction conclusively without DNA analysis, which at this point has not been attempted due to the difficulty in extracting DNA from such old samples. Therefore, we have not included these two specimens on our analyses.It is possible that two young males identified as low confidence A. orinus specimens collected in May through June, which is the likely breeding season, the breeding range of this species in Central Asia spans mountainous regions, 900–3000 meters above sea level, of Tajikistan (except the Eastern Pamyr mountains), Kyrgyzstan, eastern Uzbekistan and south-eastern Kazakhstan  were collected in June (A. dumetorum specimens from the same region (n = 95) and found that the earliest registrations were in the last days of April (3 specimens), in May the largest number of specimens were collected (53), in June only 13 specimens were obtained and, finally, just three in July. Between 6 and 23 of July not a single bird was collected, and more than 20 birds were collected in August, September and November. In the mountainous part of the region  in June and July only 4 birds were collected. In A. dumetorum specimens collected in what is likely to be the breeding season (from May 15 to August 15) in Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan. Thus, the A. dumetorum collected in the area of likely A. orinus breeding range are most likely migrant individuals passing through or non-breeding individuals.The earliest registrations of  in June . In museA. dumetorum in mountainous regions of Central Asia revealed only a few possible registrations of this species. Shnitnikov et al.A. dumetorum in the mountains of south Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. However, recent observations A. dumetorum in the Pamir-Alai mountains. However, Meklenburtsev A. dumetorum in the valley of Kashdarariya and N.A. Zarudny A. dumetorum in the valleys of Syrdariya and Zeravshan rivers, broods and nestlings on the Shakhdara river and Darvaz mountain range, but describes only a single nest from Sary-Kumysh, Syrdariya river.A literature review of the breeding registrations of A. dumetorum in Central Asia coincide with collection locations of specimens we identify as A. orinus. Authors frequently describe the same sites of breeding of A. dumetorum as the sites of collection of our confirmed A. orinus specimens, such as Shakhdara river valley, Barvoz forest and East of Kulyab.Overall, the few reliable literature descriptions of the geographical locations of breeding sites of A. dumetorum in the mountainous regions of Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan are reports on the nesting of A. orinus. However, it does not appear possible to resolve the issue of sympatry of these two species based solely on existing ornithological collections because most A. dumetorum specimens from this region were collected in the period of seasonal migrations and the few adult specimens collected in the breeding season may correspond to non-breeding individuals that did not fly further north to their own breeding grounds. The only registration of nesting of A. dumetorum south of Central Asia was made in 1875 in the range leading up to the Himalayan Mountains in India Acrocephalus genus. Thus, the two close species A. orinus and A. dumetorum may not be sympatric species, as is the hypothesis of several authors Thus, it is conceivable that reports of nesting of The emergence of the enigma surrounding the identity and distribution of the Large-billed Reed Warbler appears to have been fueled, at least in part, but the segregation imposed by the Iron Curtain, leading to the linguistic isolation of Soviet ornithologists from western literature on one hand, and the physical isolation of Western ornithologists, which prevented them from traveling to the regions in question, on the other.A. orinus specimens in the collections of Zoological Museum, Moscow Lomonosov State University (ZMMU), State Darwin Museum, Moscow (SDM), Zoological Museum, National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev (ZMAU) National University of Uzbekistan (NUUz) in addition to the 95 specimens of A. dumetorum collected from different locations in Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan, including 33 from Turkmenistan, 19 from southern regions of Uzbekistan, 12 samples from Tajikistan, 8 from Kyrgyzstan, 20 from Southern Kazakhstan and 3 from North-Western China. All measurements were taken by Yaroslav Red'kin, with the exception of all measurements of specimens from NUUz, which were performed by R.D. Kashkarov, A.A. Atakhodjaev, I. Atamuradova, N. Azimov and Sh. Ziyovatdinov. For sequence comparison we also selected five A. dumetorum specimens from Central Asia and one additional A. dumetorum specimen that was initially identified as a low-confidence A. orinus  and A. dumetorum (FJ883028.1) as well as selected Acrocephalidae, including A. agricola (FJ883021.1), A. arundinaceus (GQ242151.1), A. baeticatus (FJ883024.1), A. orientalis (FJ883034.1), A. palustris (FJ883036.1), A. scirpaceus (FJ883039.1), A. stentoreus (FJ883031.1) and A. tangorum (FJ883041.1) using the closely related Chloropeta natalensis (DQ008523.1) and Hippolais caligata (AJ004793.1) as outgroups. In addition, we included in our phylogenetic analysis the sequences of 8 A. orinus specimens reported by Ayé, et al.et al.A. orinus specimens that were clustered on the same branch of the reconstructed phylogeny did not correlate with the geographical location of their collecting (data not shown).The obtained sequences were aligned using muscle Table S1Biometrics for Large-billed Reed Warbler specimens (in mm) .(DOC)Click here for additional data file.


Dr. Mira Sen (Banerjee) was born on July 20, 1934 in Dhalaghat village of Chittagong district of East Bengal (Bangladesh), in a well-educated and cultured family. Her father, Sri Ramani Ranjan Sen, was a professor of history in the famous Braja Mohan College of Barisal. Her mother, Sushila Bala Sen, was an accomplished lady of great dignity and discipline and a constant source of inspiration to the family. Dr. Sen grew up in Barisal with her elder sister, and two brothers, one older and one younger to her.She did her schooling from Municipal Primary Girls School at Barisal. She appeared for her matriculation from Sadar Girls High School in 1948 and passed in first division under the East Bengal Secondary Education Board, Dacca, in 1948. She completed her intermediate in science in 1950 from City College, Calcutta. During the same year, she took admission for B.Sc. Physics (Hons) at Scottish Church College, Calcutta.In 1951, she discontinued her B.Sc. to join MBBS degree course at the National Medical College. She was the class assistant in surgery while in college. Dr. Sen passed her MBBS exam in 1956 with honours in four subjects  and was awarded a gold medal for the same. She was also awarded the Gold Medal for Proficiency in Medicine by National Medical College, Calcutta.Dr. Sen started her professional career in 1959 under West Bengal Health Services with her posting in NRS Medical College as demonstrator in the Department of Anatomy. In 1961, she was granted paid study leave and proceeded to the UK to join the Royal College of Edinburough. After obtaining the FRCS degree in 1964, she came back and in 1965, Dr. Sen joined as RS General Surgery at Medical College Calcutta. In 1968, Dr. Sen got married to the eminent surgeon, Dr. Asok Banerjee. She was later transferred to SSKM hospital as Lecturer in Plastic Surgery. Eventually, Dr. Sen became the Professor and HOD of Plastic Surgery at SSKM. Later, she was transferred to National Medical College and retired as HOD and Professor of Plastic Surgery from that Institution on 31 July 1994.She has to her credit a large number of papers published in reputed medical journals. Dr. Sen was a dedicated and revered teacher and research guide for her students. She was well known as an examiner for her fairness and impartiality and was M.Ch. examiner for various universities, e.g., Calcutta, Patna, Benares, Osmania and many others. She was also an examiner for the D.N.B. examinations.Being a woman of determination and dedication, she continued her work as an honorary visiting surgeon at Mission Hospital for Women and Calcutta Heart Hospital. In order to keep abreast with the current developments in this emerging field, she continued with her private professional practice as well.Dr. Mira Sen will be remembered for a very long time by her colleagues, students and members of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India.


Amblyomma variegatum ticks should be eradicated to prevent R. africae and African tickborne fever from being established. Rickettsia africae is the agent of African tick-bite fever, a mild but common disease of local persons and tourists in Africa. The major vector of this spotted fever group rickettsia is most likely Amblyomma variegatum, the tropical bont tick, which has become widely distributed through the West Indies in the last 30 years. This report reviews all available information on R. africae in the West Indies. Rickettsia africae is a recently described spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsia that is the agent of African tick-bite fever (ATBF), a mild but common tickborne disease of local persons and tourists, in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa. The clinical and laboratory features of ATBF have recently been reviewed , a host of the immature stages of A. variegatum  in widely separated areas in Africa   analysis with rOmpA primers  of 12 A. variegatum tested from Martinique.In 2002, Robinson et al.  microplus, the tropical/southern cattle tick, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus, the brown dog tick, are widespread in the Caribbean (R. africae. PCR with rOmpA primers of 52 R. sanguineus and 16 R. microplus from Saint Kitts and Nevis did not show DNA of SFG rickettsiae (unpub. data). Similarly, SFG rickettsial DNA was not identified in 6 R. microplus and 11 R. sanguineus from Martinique (R. microplus from Antigua (Although A. variegatum is commonly infected with R. africae in the West Indies. In the only published serosurvey conducted in the region (R. africae were found in Guadeloupean cattle (81%) and goats (87%), which are common hosts of A. variegatum  in local people from Guadeloupe. The prevalence in men was significantly higher than in women, possibly because men were more likely to be exposed while working outdoors. The West Indian population, then, appears to be commonly exposed to A. variegatum that transmits R. africae. As is the case in Africa, however, clinical cases of ATBF in local persons are unexpectedly rare; the only reported cases of ATBF contracted in the region have been in tourists (,The studies described show that A. variegatum from the Caribbean (–A. variegatum, mainly heartwater and dermatophilosis. Also of great concern have been the huge economic loses that would be anticipated if the tick and its animal diseases were introduced into South, Central, and North America (,A. variegatum. No attempts appear to have been made to control the populations of cattle egrets, which are hosts of A. variegatum and can migrate long distances, even as far as the Florida Keys (Recently, programs have been introduced to eradicate A. variegatum is eradicated from the West Indies, local health workers and those treating persons who have traveled to the area should suspect ATBF in patients who seek treatment with a history of tick bites and clinical signs of fever, headache, and multiple eschars. Further, vigilance is required to prevent transportation of A. variegatum or rickettsemic animals to the mainlands of North, South, and Central America because this importation might enable R. africae and ATBF to become established in these areas. The potential impact of R. africae on the health of indigenous people and tourists in the West Indies and its potential introduction into the Americas further justifies the eradication of A. variegatum from the region.Until


Stem-relatives of many winged insect orders have been identified among Pennsylvanian fossils (Carboniferous Period). Owing to their presumed 'basal' position in insect phylogeny, stoneflies were expected to occur at this period. However, no relative has ever been designated convincingly.Gulou carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. exhibits character states diagnostic of the order Plecoptera, but lack character states shared by unequivocal representatives of the order. Derived from this identification, the delimitation of the fossil species is ascertained based on comparison of several extant stonefly species. This comparative analysis allowed a trait present in G. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov., but rarely occurring in extant species, to be documented and highlighted as atavistic. Affinities of taxa formerly proposed as putative stem-stoneflies are reconsidered in the light of the new discovery.In this paper, we report specimens belonging to a new fossil insect species collected from the Tupo Formation . The wing venation of Gulou carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. is considered the only genuine Plecoptera reported from the Pennsylvanian. Continuing efforts on the systematics of Pennsylvanian winged insects indicate a fauna more diverse than previously appreciated. It suggests that insects already had a long, yet undocumented, history by this time. If so the only character shared by the 'assemblage' composed of Spanioderidae, Tillyardembiidae, G. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov., and Plecoptera would be a plesiomorphy.Regarding this character, an alternative point of view is provided by A. P. Rasnitsyn and D. S. Aristov , in a coG. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. could equally be a sister-group related to Grylloblattida, the former clade being characterized by the apomorphy 'ScP reaching anterior wing margin', and (2) Spanioderidae and Tillyardembiidae could equally be related to any other 'eoblattid assemblage'.Therefore, according to the intricate systematic treatments by D. S. Aristov and A. P. Rasnitsyn , and A. 5, occurs in the insect wing venation groundplan. It has been demonstrated that the various 'M5 structures' are not homologous [i.e. the presumed 'M5') with a branch of CuP [i.e. the presumed 'M5', is a cross-vein) [Finally, the contribution by D. S. Aristov and A. P. Rasnitsyn  rests onmologous ,24,30. Ah of CuP . Occurress-vein) .Notice that Plecoptera be sister-group related to the Tillyardembiidae and the Spanioderidae is not evident from A. P. Rasnitsyn and D. S. Aristov . These aG. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. and genuine Permian stoneflies is considered. These Palaeozoic Plecoptera have a CuA with a few distal branches [5 /arculus/CuA interpretation, the Spanioderidae do not have the broad MP/CuA and CuA/CuP areas diagnostic of all Plecoptera [G. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. it is hardly arguable that the Permian Tillyardembiidae constitute a Permian relict of a more basal member of Plecoptera that would have crossed the whole Pennsylvanian without leaving a record. Regarding Spanioderidae, it simply has to be considered as a stem-Orthoptera [Close relationships of Tillyardembiidae and Spanioderidae with Plecoptera are even more dubious once the wing morphology of branches ,21, whilbranches ,48; the branches , a traitbranches -21; set ecoptera -21. ProvG. carpenteri gen. et sp nov. is as old as the oldest stem-Grylloblattida [In summary we consider that the suggestion of affinities of Spanioderidae with Plecoptera  is not gblattida . We concG. carpenteri gen. et sp. nov. is the only compelling Palaeozoic stem-Plecoptera, and is the earliest one. Although wing morphology of this species allows some plesiomorphic character states to be outlined for crown-Plecoptera, it provides no conclusive evidence on relationships of this group with other recognized major insect lineages.Apart from a few Permian genuine Plecoptera ,21, G. cHennig's supposition is supported: "it seems most likely that the Plecoptera arose before the lower Upper Carboniferous" . Indeed To comply with regulations of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), we have deposited paper copies of the above article at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), the National Museum of Natural History (Washington), the Natural History Museum (London), the Brigham Young University (Provo), and the Colorado State University (Fort Collins), and sent copies to various colleagues.We follow the serial insect wing venation groundplan ,52. The i.e. they are a combination of photographs of a specimen both dry and immersed in ethanol). All photographs were processed using Adobe Photoshop. Photographs indicated as light-mirrored are the product of an optical effect aiming to revert the polarity of an imprint.All specimens were collected from the Pennsylvanian strata near Xiaheyan village . Specimens are housed in the Key Lab of Insect Evolution and Environmental Changes, College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China . All fossils were examined using a Leica MZ12.5 dissecting microscope and illustrated with the aid of a drawing tube. All photographs were taken using a digital camera Canon EOS 450D coupled to a MP-E 65 mm macro lens, and are 'dry-ethanol composites' (Acroneuria abnormis (Newman) , Acroneuria carolinensis (Banks)  (both Perlidae), Pteronarcys californica Newport, and Pteronarcys princeps Banks  (both Pteronarcyidae). Wings were cut off and mounted in white Euparal medium . Photographs were taken using a digital camera Canon EOS 450D coupled with a Canon 50 mm macro lens, and were processed using Abobe Photoshop .Specimens belonging to recent species were prepared to appreciate intra-specific variability in wing venation. Selected species are OB prepared extant and fossil material, contributed to the preparation of figures, and drafted the manuscript, and is the sole responsible for the content of the Discussion section. YC collected data on fossil material, contributed to the preparation of figures, and helped to draft the manuscript. BK and BS collected and determined extant material, and helped to draft the manuscript. DR supervised palaeontological excavations, designed the project, and secured financial support to YC and OB. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Parastrongylus (= Angiostrongylus) cantonensis is a parasitic nematode of Norway rats throughout tropical regions. This parasite is neurotropic and causes disease and death in humans and other mammals. We report the first identification of P. cantonensis as the cause of a debilitating neurologic disease in a captive primate in Florida. Hylobates lar) from the Miami Metrozoo in Florida. The gibbon was born in the wild but had been in captivity in Florida, USA since 1963. The onset of severe quadriparesis occurred overnight, without signs of prior illness. In addition to extreme weakness of all limbs and the inability to support his body, the gibbon had a slight lip droop but was able to swallow and had no other detectable cranial nerve signs. The gibbon was behaviorally depressed but responsive and aware of his surroundings. Blood analyses and thoracic radiographs did not show a cause for the clinical disease, and blood eosinophil count was not elevated. The animal did not show improvement after 48 hours and was euthanized by intravenous injection of Euthasol . On postmortem examination, chronic renal disease and moderate cardiac fibrosis and endocardiosis were observed, but these conditions were considered to be age-related. Gross abnormalities were absent on external surfaces of the central nervous system (CNS). Tissues of the CNS were preserved in 10% formalin.On July 28, 2003, an acute and disabling neurologic disorder developed in a captive 49-year-old male white-handed gibbon (Tissue samples from regions of the CNS were embedded in paraffin by using standard procedures. Tissue sections were cut (6 μm) and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. In the transverse sections, the only gross lesion observed was a thin, white discolored area in the left dorsal funiculus in the cranial cervical spinal cord segments. Microscopic examination showed necrosis and inflammation located primarily in the dorsal gray columns throughout the cervical spinal cord. This lesion was bilateral with some involvement of the adjacent funiculi. The areas of inflammation included numerous eosinophils and transverse sections of one or more parasitic nematodes . A few lPreserved tissues of the CNS were examined for nematodes at 4x magnification with a dissecting microscope . Four nematodes were recovered from the meninges of the brain and spinal cord. One intact male nematode and additional pieces of a nematode were recovered from the subarachnoid space of the cervical spinal cord. A second intact male nematode was recovered from the subarachnoid space of the cerebellum, and additional pieces of a male nematode were recovered from the subarachnoid space of the cerebrum. The partial nematodes had damaged anterior and posterior ends. Nematodes were examined at 40–400x magnification, and digital images of specimens were captured . Corresponding images of a stage micrometer allowed the sizes of morphologic characteristics to be determined. A key morphologic feature of the three male nematodes was the presence of a well-developed bursa . This feParelaphostrongylus spp., Elaphostrongylus spp., Skrjabingylus spp., Gurltia paralysans, and Parastrongylus spp. Of those nematodes, only Parastrongylus spp. have been reported previously from the CNS of primates. As such, the causative agent was presumed to be a species of the genus Parastrongylus. This genus comprises P. cantonensis, P. malaysiensis, P. mackerrasae, P. sandarsae, P. siamensis, P. costaricensis, P. dujardini, P. schmidti, P. tateronae, P. ryjikovi, P. sciuri, and P. petrowi . P. cantonensis and P. malaysiensis are distinguished on the basis of the morphology of bursal rays from male nematodes  under accession number 94698.Spicule measurements  of nematodes from the gibbon  correlatP. cantonensis are parasitic nematodes that reside in the cardiopulmonary system of their rat (Rattus spp.) definitive hosts. The parasite is common in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific and has been reported in Madagascar, Japan, Egypt, and India  from rat feces to infect and develop into the infective-stage (L3) within obligate gastropod intermediate hosts. Infection of rats and other mammalian hosts requires ingestion of L3, commonly through ingestion of infected gastropods. However, the L3 of P. cantonensis can also emerge in gastropod mucus trails and thereby contaminate surrounding vegetation (Transmission of P. cantonensis within the United States is unknown outside of Louisiana (P. cantonensis in the captive gibbon in this report suggests that the parasite may be established in Miami, Florida. Since neurologic disease may occur in human and nonhuman primates, dogs, horses, and numerous other species (–P. cantonensis will prove valuable for monitoring the spread of this zoonotic parasite. P. cantonensis have a number of susceptible aquatic (,P. cantonensis exists within eastern North America.The present distribution of P. cantonensis has, in some instances, been linked to the introduction of the African giant land snail, Achatina fulica (A. fulica were introduced into Miami, Florida, from Hawaii in 1966 (A. fulica in Hawaii in the mid-1960s showed that P. cantonensis infection was both highly prevalent and intense (P. cantonensis was believed not to establish successfully (P. cantonensis. Live A. fulica are confiscated routinely from tourists returning to mainland United States from Hawaii, and 75 other exotic gastropod species have been introduced to the United States accidentally, inadvertently, or intentionally (P. cantonensis with infected rats from areas where the parasite is endemic would be equally conceivable, as was proposed for its introduction to New Orleans, Louisiana (The dispersal of P. cantonensis may be established in rat and gastropod populations in Miami. However, given the role of emergent L3 in transmission of infections (,P. cantonensis is not known to be in any of these supply regions. The source of P. cantonensis in the gibbon infection remains to be determined. However, P. cantonensis was definitely introduced to Miami through the translocation of either infected animals or contaminated plants.P. cantonensis. The specific source of infection in the present case report remains unknown. However, our report indicates that infection with P. cantonensis should be included as a differential diagnosis for instances of neurologic disease in human and nonhuman primates, as well as in wildlife and veterinary species in the southeastern United States.Future investigations aim to conduct parasitologic surveys of rats and gastropods in Miami, Florida, and develop molecular tools for specific identification of