Foreclosed Homes Becoming Breeding Ground for Mosquitoes, West Nile Virus

In the Greater Los Angeles area, where backyard swimming pools are common, the county’s Vector Control District is getting an alarming number of calls about the abundance of mosquitoes breeding in swimming pools abandoned to foreclosure.  They’ve also seen a spike in cases of West Nile virus this year, although this is earlier than usual for the virus’s typical summertime appearance. Read more

Wise Ecology May Reduce Spread of Infectious Disease

For the first time ever, an international team of researchers has mapped out the areas around the world where infectious diseases, passed from animals to humans, have originated. Using data that dates back to the early 1940s, the study concludes that diseases that originate in animals, called zoonoses, are the biggest threat to humans today.
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