Mosquito-borne diseases represent an annual seasonal threat to human health each summer. To date, seven different viruses that cause human disease have been found in mosquitoes in Connecticut through the statewide mosquito trapping and testing program conducted by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. These include (1) West Nile virus, an exotic virus native to Africa, which has become the leading cause of domestically-acquired mosquito-borne disease in the US, and (2) eastern equine encephalitis, which is currently undergoing a sustained resurgence of activity in the northeastern US and unprecedented northward expansion into regions where the virus had been historically rare or previously unknown, resulting in severe disease in humans and domestic animals. Other exotic mosquito-borne viruses that represent potential travel-associated threats include: Chikungunya, Dengue, Yellow fever and Zika. In this lecture, Dr. Andreadis will examine recent developments in our understanding on the ecology and epidemiology of these emerging pathogens and their mosquito vectors, and describe current surveillance activities to monitor their activity and emergence in the state.

Presenter: Dr. Theodore Andreadis is the Director of The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven and Head of the Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases where he formerly directed the State of Connecticut’s Mosquito and Arbovirus Research and Surveillance Programs for over 15 years. Dr. Andreadis holds a B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and M.S. degree in Medical Entomology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a Ph.D. in Insect Pathology from the University of Florida at Gainesville.