How does a mosquito researcher mark the passing of seasons?

Winter has come and gone for another year. For many people it means packing away the footy boots and starting to shop for swimwear. What about mosquito researchers? How does the passing of seasons change their work?

One of the things I love about my job (and occasionally loathe) is that it is primarily driven by the weather. On a weekly basis, i have to keep an eye on local rainfall, temperature fluctuations, and tidal cycles. All these things have a strong influence on local mosquito abundance and diversity. Add extreme weather events into the mix and things can become quite unpredictable! I can’t ignore the wind either, ever tried catching a mosquito in a howling gale?

Mosquitoes can be found right through the year in Sydney. Generally though, the year for me is divided into a series of milestones.

Goodbye winter, hello spring (plus migratory birds, daylight saving and end to rugby league)

There is a sound I’ve come to dread in recent years. The “awk-awk-awk…” of the channel-billed cuckoo. This migratory bird moves into Sydney from New Guinea and Indonesia around August and it’s call is a kind of siren that warns of the upcoming mosquito season. Once I start hearing those calls, I better start planning the field work season ahead.

The long weekend in October, that coincides with an end to the rugby league season, means field work planning should really be in full swing.

If these birds and farewell to footy season aren’t strong enough reminders, once daylight savings kicks in from early October, I know I’ve got to start moving!

In Sydney, “mosquito season” has historically run from the start of November through to the end of April. Field work is well underway by the time the Melbourne Cup is run and won.

One of the interesting trends in recent years has been are ever increasing early start to mosquito season. While the start of spring if often punctuated by occasional hot conditions, mosquitoes have usually be slow to kick into gear. It isn’t until late spring that serious pest problems are reported. However, in recent years, the start of the season has got earlier and earlier.

It is becoming so common to see boosts in mosquito numbers in late September and early October that start dates of mosquito control and surveillance programs are moving forward.

Say goodbye to summer holidays

My summers are dictated by tides and rainfall. These are the events that bring water into local wetlands and trigger hatches of mosquitoes. My schedule will shift from year with differences in the timing of king tides and the pattern of rainfall.

What these shifts in environmental conditions mean is that I can be in the wetlands on Christmas Day or New Years Eve. Sometimes mosquito season sucks.

The Australia Day holiday is often an important date, especially if it occurs just as mosquito populations are on the rise or there is increased activity of mosquito-borne pathogens. I’m often dealing with plenty of media enquiries at this time.

The kids are back in school by February and Sydney is well and truly out of holiday mode. For me, this means much earlier and later working times as I try to dodge peak-hour traffic getting from field site to field site. There is nothing more likely to take the gloss off some early morning time in the wetlands than spending twice as long as usually in crawling traffic as I try to get mosquitoes back to the laboratories.

Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs, and outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease

While it may be tempting to think the Easter Long-weekend may mark the end of the mosquito season and chocolate egg fueled celebrations can commence, it is important to keep in mind that Easter moves about from year to year. This can have important implications for mosquito monitoring and public health interventions.

When the Easter falls at the end of March or early April, there can be greater mosquito-borne disease risks. In many areas of Australia, mosquito-borne disease caused by Ross River virus is more commonly reported in autumn than summer or spring. Depending on the temperatures, tides, and rainfall, there can be very abundant populations of mosquitoes and elevated mosquito-borne disease risk just as everyone is taking off on long-weekend camping trips or school holidays. In 2020, with Easter falling in the middle or April, the risks shouldn’t be too high (but lets just wait to see what the weather and mosquito populations are like).

An end to daylight savings is usually a pretty good marker. I’m often caught out the first week after our clocks go back and need a head lamp or torch to finish setting mosquito traps! However, the real end point to mosquito season is typically ANZAC Day. While there may be some mosquitoes about through to the early stages of May, it is usually only under exceptional circumstances (at least around Sydney).

Bring on the cold (and report writing)

Between May and September, temperatures get too cold for mosquitoes to be a problem. It is the cold overnight temperatures (as opposed to the occasional warm daily temperatures) that influence mosquito populations. As soon as we start getting overnight minimums consistently dropping below 10oC, mosquito activity generally starts to decline.

Winter is spent writing, teaching, sleeping, conferences, planning, and trying to sneak in some kind of holiday….

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If you’re a scientist, how do the seasons shift your schedule throughout the year? Join the conversation on Twitter!

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The long hot summer of mosquito and media wrangling

“Webb’s a mosquito researcher with NSW Health Pathology, and while it may sound like potentially the worst job in the world to the rest of us, it’s important work.” – Ten Daily, 14 Jan 2019.

Every summer I’m required to juggle those pesky mosquitoes and help out with requests from media. Over the past 6 months or so I’ve responded to about 70 media requests and here is a round up of some fun highlights and other bits and pieces.

There was a wide range of media requests this summer, from morning TV through to talkback radio, podcasts and live interviews via Skype. There was once a time when the only acceptable way to do a radio interview was via landline connected phone. This summer I did interviews via mobile, Skype, and various  smartphone apps! Times are a changing.

A fun segment on Channel 7’s ‘Sunrise’ breakfast show on why mosquitoes bite some people more than others; always a challenge taking in a cage a live mosquitoes to the studio, especially travelling in via public transport!

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A hot and dry summer must mean less mosquitoes, right?

The outlook for the 2018-2019 “mosquito season” was for it to be fairly routine. The Bureau of Meteorology was predicting a hot and dry summer under the influence of El Nino. At the time I wrote a piece for The Conversation highlighting that just because it was dry, that didn’t mean we wouldn’t see plenty of mosquitoes.

In coastal regions of Australia, tidal flooding of local wetlands often offsets any impact due to lack of rainfall. Mosquitoes such as Aedes vigilax certainly respond well and there were some very high mosquito numbers recorded in early spring. Usually, the media interest in mosquitoes starts increasing once the politicians break for the summer, this year there was plenty of interest early on!

NSW Health also issued a media release to get the community thinking about the potential mosquito impacts ahead of the summer holiday period and asked me to be the spokesperson. These warnings often prompt a different range of media interest, usually news bulletins for radio. Unlike the traditional radio interviews in which you’re responding to the host’s questions, only “grabs” (short statements regarding the topic) are required. I’ve learned there is a fine art to being concise in these statements and it pays to give some thought to what you’ll say ahead of calling up the news desk!

Some of the media coverage in early summer was less about bites and more about why mosquitoes disturb your sleep! I spoke with Channel Ten about how you can beat these bedroom buzzers! Here are some tips on beating the buzz of mosquitoes in the bedroom.

These concerns about mosquitoes in the bedroom prompted questions about the suitability of mosquito coils as a person protection measures. I’d written about this issue before but there was also some media coverage at the Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald.

There was also a funny segment on The Project:

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Warm weather, warm blood, and hungry mosquitoes

As summer kicked in, I did a bunch of “pre-season” interviews about the outlook for the mosquito activity ahead. One of them was with the Sydney Morning Herald. There was also a piece in Illawarra Murcury on the mosquitoes around Newcastle. I even chatted with ABC Illawarra about the mosquitoes bringing in the new year along the NSW coast. I also chatted with the team at the Daily Mail. Also the Daily Telegraph.

Once summer really hit (and the mosquitoes really started biting following heavy rains), everyone’s mind turned to one of the most commonly asked questions….why do mosquitoes bite me more than my friends? You can check out my contribution to a story by ABC Science below:

The usual coverage of mosquito impacts during the Australia Day holiday also popped up. Will my diet influence the likelihood of being bitten? I spoke with Channel Ten. The University of Sydney media team also put out a piece on why what you eat or drink makes not difference when it comes to stopping mosquito bites. A story picked up and republished by ABC News.

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Combining fieldwork and media requests

“Ballina council is calling in an expert to hunt for some ladies – Medical Entomologist Dr Cameron Webb will visit the area next week in search of blood sucking girls.” – EchoNet Daily, Ballina

While undertaking some work for Ballina Shire Council on the NSW far north coast, I helped out managing a few media requests associated with local mosquito problems and the work of council. It was fun squeezing in some print, TV, radio, and social media activities between the work in the wetlands.

I also participated in a “Q and A” on the Ballina Shire Council Facebook page where residents could ask questions about how best to protect themselves from mosquitoes. See here.

Mosquito-borne disease in the city

The detection of Ross River virus in mosquitoes around Sydney sparked some additional interest from media (and anxiety from local community). Coverage in Sydney Morning Herald here.  It prompted me to write an article about what the actual health implications were of finding the pathogen in a heavily urbanised areas such as the Parramatta River compared to the more bushland dominated Georges River.

The issue of wildlife and their role in urban transmission cycles of Ross River virus is always a tricky one. How do you balance wildlife conservation and mitigation of health risks? Together will colleagues I wrote about this at The Conversation.

The media coverage of the Ross River virus detection provided an opportunity for NSW Health Pathology to share some insights into how we research local mosquitoes and the pathogens they’re carrying. See below for a short video from the mangroves along the Parramatta River.

Did you know we monitor mosquitoes around the state to provide public health advice to @NSWHealth? Here’s our mozzie guru @Mozziebites (Dr Cameron Webb) explaining how we do this important work! pic.twitter.com/zpCTs7p3DL

— NSW Health Pathology (@NSWHPathology) January 10, 2019

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Declining insects, increasing mosquitoes, and the need to spray our backyards

One of the other stories bubbling along during the last year or so were the reports of declining global insect populations. I first spoke to the media about this issue back in early 2018. I was quoted in a couple of other stories too, clearly there was a lot of interest in this issue. This story gained plenty of attention and I spoke with various radio and print media about this challenge were facing with potential insect declines and how we can measure them. I even wrote an article about whether mosquitoes may be in decline too!

I spoke about this issue, and more generally about mosquitoes on an episode of the Science on Top podcast too.

There has been suggestions that insecticides may be contributing to declining insect populations. Earlier in the year, I was one of the coauthors of a paper that called for the need to better understand integrated pest control in our cities and become less reliant on insecticides. There was also an associated article at The Conversation. This was also republished at Domain.

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Floods in the north, floods in the south

The incredible flooding around Townsville in far north QLD created some major concern. Despite some initial concerns about increased mosquito risk, there weren’t any substantial increases in mosquito-borne disease reported. I spoke to ABC News about the potential risks.

The flooding that did trigger a big boost in mosquito numbers occurred in SE QLD and northern NSW. Local wetlands were inundated by tides and rain, resulting in some phenomenal numbers of mosquitoes in early autumn. I spoke to ABC and Great Lakes Advocate about the climatic factors that triggered this unusual mosquito activity.

Everyone was on weather watch late in the season too. A few extra downpours prompted concerns about more increases in autumn mosquito populations. I spoke with Sydney Morning Herald after a particularly wet weekend in March.

Finally, I helped the Australian Academy of Science make a video exploring why mosquitoes bite and how to stop them!

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Join the conversation on Twitter, did you catch me talking mosquitoes this summer? Did it help you protect your family from mosquito bites?

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Could a boombox (playing Skrillex) save you from mosquito bites?

There has been quite a buzz about some new research that suggests the music playing at your next backyard party may keep the mosquitoes at bay. Could it actually be true?

“As music is loved by many people, the development of music-based anti-mosquito control measures may represent an appealing alternative to strategies involving the use of harmful chemical insecticides.” – Dieng et al. 2019

Are mosquitoes monsters or sprites?

The study was recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Tropica. The researchers (including one of my previous PhD students) exposed mosquitoes to the song “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” by U.S. electronic dub-step artist Skrillex while recording how long it took Aedes aegypti (these are the mosquitoes that transmit dengue viruses) to find a blood meal, how long they spent feeding, as well as tracking how much time was spent mating. The “blood meal” was provided by a restrained hamster and all experiments were conducted in the laboratory.

“Adults entertained with music copulated far less than their counterparts kept in the environment where there was no music entertainment.” – Dieng et al. 2019

Unfortunately, the researchers didn’t explain why they decided to use this particular song, only describing it as “…characterized as noisy based on the resulting vibragram and strong sound pressure/vibration with constantly rising pitches”. It would have been interesting to include a couple of other songs in the testing too. Perhaps something a little more downbeat?

Once they had the song playing (ensuring the speakers weren’t located close enough to cause vibration to the cage containing mosquitoes), mosquitoes were released into the cage and behaviour was recorded for 10 minutes. Researchers recorded the time to first blood feeding attempt, number of blood feeding events, and number of mating events.

The results were interesting. Mosquitoes took longer to find a host, spent less time blood feeding and mated less often when exposed to the music. These differences in each measurement were statistically different too.

What does this mean for prevention of mosquito-borne disease?

This study has received plenty of media attention. See here and here and here. I spoke to ABC Sydney about it too (tune in from the 1:07).

While the results demonstrated some reduced likelihood of biting, it shouldn’t be interpreted that playing Skrillex’s music will protect yourself from mosquito bites. The reduced likelihood was pretty short lived, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get bitten despite the dub step blasting from the boombox.

There has always been an interest in understanding how sound impacts the behaviour of mosquitoes. Ultrasonic insect repellents have been sold in one way or another for a couple of decades. Now you can download apps to your smartphone that purport to use sound to repel mosquitoes. There really is no evidence that sound can provide protection from mosquito bites.

Digging deeper into the “Skrillex study”, the results indicate that even though there may be less chance you’ll be bitten while listening to this music, you’ll still be bitten. Even over the relatively short exposure periods in the laboratory study, the mosquitoes were still biting. Notwithstanding your tolerance of Skrillex’s brand of electronic music, who knows how loud you need to be playing it or how shifts in songs (and their associated pitches, frequencies, buzzes, and beats) may change the activity of local mosquitoes.

To prevent mosquito-borne disease, you need to stop all bites, not just some of them. Topical insect repellents will still provide better protection. Keep in mind that even a low dose DEET-based insect repellent will prevent all bites from Aedes aegypti for a few hours in laboratory testing.

See the full paper here:

Dieng, H., Chuin, T.C., Satho, T., Miake, F., Wydiamala, E., Kassim, N.F.A., Hashim, N.A., Vargas, R.E.M. and Morales, N.P., 2019. The electronic song “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” reduces host attack and mating success in the dengue vector Aedes aegypti. Acta Tropica. [online]

 

Join the conversation on Twitter, if music could keep mosquitoes away, what music would you want that to be?

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Photo at the top of this article by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash

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Mosquitoes feed on frogs, very small frogs…

I was excited to be asked back on the Science on Top podcast recently to record an episode about mosquitoes, currently declines in insect populations (are mosquitoes on the way out too?), and whether recent flooding in north QLD would result in increased mosquito populations and risk of mosquito-borne disease outbreak.

Please subscribe to the podcast, its a really fun and relaxed look at whats making headlines in the science world. The crew themselves describe the podcast as:

The Australian podcast about science, health and technology news. Join Ed Brown and his panel of co-hosts each week as we talk about the latest and coolest research and discoveries in the world of science. We’re joined by special guests from all over the science field: doctors, professors, nurses, teachers and more.

If you’re interested, you can chase up my previous guest spot with them talking “Everything Zika” back in 2016.

I still hold some aspirations of starting my own podcast. Problem is finding the time (there isn’t even enough time to catch up on my podcast “to do” list). Perhaps this is a project for the coming summer.

Would you listen to a podcast about mosquitoes and the people who study them?

You can catch up on a couple of other podcasts I’ve guested on over the past few years. Check out Flash Forward (The Ultimate Swatting) and Arthropod (Getting to Know Mosquitoes).

Oh, and mosquitoes do feed on frogs. Frog blood, not the whole thing. It would have to be a very small frog…

 

 

 

A flood of festive season media coverage

Spring is gone and with the arrival of summer comes the mosquitoes. Calls from the media inevitably follow shortly after. I have no doubt many journalists, broadcasters and producers have my name in their diaries, circled brightly in red, on the first day of summer!

It is a fun part of my job to deal with the media. Its more than just getting a chance to talk about mosquitoes and their role in the local environment, it also provides an opportunity to do some important public health communications around the issues of mosquito bite prevention and management of mosquito-borne disease.

Scorchers, sun protection, and buzzing bloodsuckers

What got the ball rolling this year was a joint media briefing arranged by ausSMC. Alongside colleagues talking about heat waves, summer storms, sun protection and bushfire, I shared some tips on protecting yourself from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease this summer. It was interesting speaking alongside Professor Sanchia Aranda, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, and comparing the ways we promote safe and effective use of sunscreens and mosquito repellents. This was picked up on in additional media coverage. Overall, there was over 300 local and international articles following this media briefing!

The briefing provided an opportunity to fill a gap in public health communication I’ve identified (and tried to fill) in recent years. Health authorities are pretty good at providing advice on choosing mosquito repellents but less so on using them effectively. Ensuring repellents are actually used effectively is the best way to increase the protection of the community against mosquito-borne disease.

In early December we held our “Sydney Ideas: Mosquitoes in the City” event at Westmead. This was a great opportunity to speak to the community and the well attended event prompted some broader interest in the work of presenters.

It was a pleasure being able to visit the studios of ABC Radio National with Prof Tony Capon, Professor of Planetary Health at the University of Sydney, to discuss with Philip Adams how urbanisation and a changing climate may influence local mosquito populations and mosquito-borne disease risk. I’m working more and more with Tony so nice to share the opportunity to talk about this initiative with him on national radio. You can listen back here. This work is strongly linked to the theme of the “Mosquitoes in the City” event and there is clearly much to learn regarding the place of mosquitoes, wetlands, wildlife and mosquito-borne disease at the fringes of our metropolitan regions under the influence of a changing climate and the ways urban design responds to the threat.

 

Why me? I wish mozzies would bite my friends instead!

There was another boost in interest resulting from a spot on ABC News 24 Weekend Breakfast. The accompanying online article explaining why mosquitoes are more likely to bite some people more than others then sparked considerable interest! What followed was a bunch of radio and television interviews.

There was also a follow up article at News.com.au and this was also picked up on “Kids News” who republished a modified version of the story together with some suggestions for classroom learning exercises. Nice.

There were two different experiences with ABC News. The appearance on Weekend Breakfast was great. I’ve done segments with Andrew Geoghegan and Miriam Corowa before, have always been impressed with their knowledge and interest. I really enjoy the relaxed feel on the show. Was also a pleasure working with Dale Drinkwater, the producer, who put together the segment and accompanying article.

A couple of days later I appeared on News Breakfast with Virginia Trioli. As the program is produced out of Melbourne, I had to do a live cross from the Sydney studios. I always find these interviews a little uncomfortable as I’m tucked away in a small, dark recording booth staring down a camera and hoping my ear piece doesn’t fall out! I’m sure there is an art to these but I’m not sure I’ve mastered that just yet.

Are you a mozzie magnet? There's a reason: https://t.co/phqishya6c pic.twitter.com/e6Yw0sJy5c

— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) December 4, 2017

 

Entomologist @Mozziebites explains why some people are "mosquito magnets" pic.twitter.com/HZFr1JFPaa

— ABC News (@abcnews) December 3, 2017

Once the mozzies start biting…

With the warm weather arriving and everyone’s minds turning to summer, there is always a flood of festive season-related media stories. Once the mozzie stories started popping up, many more media outlets starting running segments.

There were also warnings about the health threats of mosquitoes over the festive season from local health authorities.

I had the chance to visit many radio and television studios to conduct interviews, this time it was the first opportunity to visit the Macquarie Radio (home to 2UE and 2GB) for what turned out to be a relatively long (by commercial radio standards) interview with Tim Webster on Talking Lifestyle/2UE including a few callers asking about mosquito repellents, disease risk and what the “purpose” of mosquitoes actually is! Listen back via the Holiday and Home podcast.

Taking talkback can be tricky. I’m fortunate enough to have had an opportunity to do this reasonably routinely. I appreciate the opportunity to get a feel for what the community wants to know about mosquitoes, we should be taking these things into account when designing fact sheets and other communication material. There is no point in simply systematically repeating what has come before.

Live TV can also be tricky. I also had the chance to do segments on Channel Nine’s Today and Today Extra programs. These are always fun and I do find it fascinating to see how the behind-the-scenes production of these shows get put together.

As summer starts to heat up, so too does the swarms of our least favourite insects… Mosquitoes. These creatures leave an unlucky few covered in itchy red bites, while others go unscathed. We asked Dr Cameron Webb to bust some of the common myths for us. @Mozziebites #9Today pic.twitter.com/QexMKSVFfl

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 8, 2017

We're being warned a bumper mosquito season could lead to a spike in deadly and debilitating diseases. #9Today pic.twitter.com/kXIj2SWqgn

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) December 17, 2017

Even the local newspaper, the Parramatta Sun, ran a nice story with great shot of me among the mangroves of the Parramatta River. It is also fun dragging photographers out into the wetlands. This time a fun shot of me from a different perspective other than simply standing beside a mosquito trap!

There was certainly plenty of “buzz” (or should that be “hum”) about mosquitoes over recent weeks. Great to see other articles pop up by fellow science communicators as well as the occasionally celebrity. There can never be too many ways to get the message out!

The mosquito coil conversation

At the point where I thought everyone was getting sick of mosquitoes, my latest article on the safe and effective use of mosquito coils was published at The Conversation (as well as being republished by ABC News). To date there have been about 90,000 clicks on the article, highlighting just how interested people are in the topic.

There were a bunch of other interview requests on the back of this including ABC Sydney, ABC Brisbane and ABC Adelaide. You can listen back to my chat with James Valentine on ABC Nationwide Afternoons here.

It isn’t always easy managing media requests

To finish up, I think it is important to share some of the reality of wrangling all these media requests. Most importantly, it takes time. It takes time to prepare and it takes much more time to actually do these activities.

For live television appearances, that often only last a few moments, you’re typically asked to arrive at the studios 30-40min prior to scheduled interview. Notwithstanding the travel time back and forth from studios (often very early in the morning), this means the interruption to the day isn’t insignificant. There was one day that I participated in two different teleconferences while in transit to and between interviews at ABC in Ultimo and Channel Nine in Willoughby!

The other thing is that sometimes you’ll get bumped. I was scheduled to chat on a live television program that requested I bring along a cage of live mosquitoes. This is generally not a problem but it does take time, especially when I have to actually collect field caught mosquitoes especially for this purpose. Unfortunately, the segment got bumped on one day, rescheduled for the next and then bumped again for a second time.

It would be easy to get really upset in these circumstances but it is a reality of dealing with the media. Don’t take it personally as these things are mostly out of your control. If you’re keen to engage with the media, this is just one of the many challenges you’ll need to learn to manage.

Spot any other cool mozzie media things? Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook!

 

Could a podcast stop mosquito bites?

This week I’m attending OzPod 2016: the Australian Podcast Conference, a workshop at the ABC, Ultimo. Celebrating International Podcast Day, the workshop brings together podcasters for “an event for the expanding podcast industry to escape the studio or office and meet with peers to share experiences, information, insights and ideas around audience acquisition and retention, new technologies, the rise of the podcast in traditional media, monetizing and of course the fine art of storytelling.”

 So, why am I going? I don’t even have a podcast!

I may not have a podcast now but I hope to start playing around with the platform soon as a complement to my other efforts to spread the word on science communication and public health awareness.

I’ve been thinking about kicking off a podcast for a while but have been a little reluctant due to time commitments. More importantly, I’ve also wanted to have a clear idea of what exactly I want to do.

In a previous life, I co-hosted a radio show on FBI Radio (during their test broadcast days) with my wife called “Good Morning Gidget”. It was a Saturday morning show of surf music and interviews with professionals involved in a wide range of coastal-based activities, from marine biologists to surf shop owners. Despite the early start on a Saturday morning, it was a load of fun. I’d also worked behind the scenes producing a couple of music shows. If I had more time, I really would have liked to pursue more work with community radio.

Perhaps podcasting will be the backup plan.

It’s great to listen back to packaged interviews with radio, like the Health Report (I’m talking zika virus) but I was also lucky enough to have a chance to contribute to a few podcasts this year. I spoke with Science On Top about the outbreak of Zika virus and the implications it has for Australia, Flash Forward on what will happen if we eradicate mosquitoes from the planet and ArthroPod on what its like to study mosquitoes for a living!

All these were a lot of fun and were really motivating for me to want to get started with podcasting myself.

I feel like my experience with sound recording and ongoing engagement with media provides a solid background in most of the technical skills I need to get started. I’m hoping I’ll leave the OzPod 2016 conference with a few more tips on story telling and structuring a podcast too.

What I’ve been struggling with is format. I like the conversational nature of most podcasts but as I’ll probably be doing everything myself, perhaps a more structured and edited podcast is the go?

There are very few podcasts I listen to that are built around a one-person show. I’m not sure I could pull it off. Does anyone really want to listen to me ramble on for 20 mins about mosquitoes? 40minutes?

Sometime over the coming summer I hope to launch a short series of podcasts covering some of the basics of mosquito biology and how that relates to the ways we protect ourselves and our families from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne disease. I want to share my fascination with mosquitoes and explore some of the gaps in our understanding of mosquitoes, particularly their role in our local environment. 

Hopefully I can recruit some of my colleagues from around Australia for a chat too so we can share a little about the science behind our public health messages and what life is like to be chasing mosquitoes around swamps all summer

Sound like a good idea? Join the conversation on Twitter and let me know what you think, would you listen to a podcast about Australian mosquitoes?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social media and blood suckers showcased at the International Congress of Entomology

Digital technology is changing a lot about how we undertake entomological research and communicate the results of that research to the community and policy makers.

This week in Orlando, Florida, is the International Congress of Entomology (ICE). A huge gathering of entomologists from around the world. While it was a great pleasure to be invited to participate, I couldn’t get over there this time.

I will, however, have a chance to present my work in the Symposium “Entomology in the Digital Age”  Friday, September 30, 2016 (01:30 PM – 04:45 PM), Convention Centre Room W222 A.

In the presentation I’ll share some of the reasoning behind my use of social media to engage the community with both entomological research and public health communication. Most importantly, it will focus on some of the metrics I’ve recorded alongside my use of social media, maintaining a blog of research and writing for outlets such as The Conversation.

I’ve written about my use of social media and how it can help extend the reach of public health messages and presented on the topic alongside a range of great speakers at the 2014 Entomological Society of America meeting in Portland.

This time around, technology is playing an even more direct role in my presentation! I’ve pre-recorded my presentation and it will be shown to the audience on the day among other presentations. I’ll also be checking into the session to answer questions. Despite the fact I’ll need to be up around 1:30am due to time differences, it should be fun.

See the abstract below…

Taking entomological research from the swamps to the suburbs with social media

Cameron E Webb

Connecting scientists and the community is critical. This is particularly the case for medical entomologists working in the field of mosquito-borne disease where the translation of entomological research into improved public health outcomes is a priority. While traditional media has been the mainstay of public health communications by local authorities, social media provides new avenues for disseminating information and engaging with the wider community. This presentation will share some insights into how the use of social media has connected new and old communications strategies to not only extend the reach of public health messages but also provide an opportunity to promote entomological research and wetland conservation. A range of social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and WordPress, were employed to disseminate public health messages and engage the community and traditional media outlets. Engagement with the accounts of traditional media (e.g. radio, print, television, online) was found to be the main route to increased exposure and, subsequently, to increased access of public health information online. With the increasing accessibility of the community to online resources via smartphones, researchers and public health advocates must develop strategies to effectively use social media. Many people now turn to social media as a source of news and information and those in the field of public health, as well as entomological research more generally, must take advantage of these new opportunities. doi: 10.1603/ICE.2016.94611

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If you’re at ICE, you can also catch up with my PhD student David Lilly who’ll be presenting our research into the development of insecticide resistance in bed bugs as part of the symposium “New Insights into Biology, Resistance Mechanisms, and the Management of the Modern Bed Bug” Friday, September 30, 2016, 01:30 PM – 04:45 PM, Convention Center, West Hall F4 (WF4).

Novel insecticide resistant mechanisms in the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius

David Lilly, Cameron E Webb and Stephen Doggett

Introduction: Research on field strains of Cimex lectularius from Australia has identified widespread resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, but variability in the magnitude expressed. To determine if differences in resistance mechanisms exist, collected strains were examined for the presence of metabolic detoxification and/or cuticle thickening. Methods: The presence and relative contribution of detoxifying esterases or cytochrome P450 monooxygenases were assessed. Bed bugs collected from Parramatta (NSW), Melbourne (VIC) – 2 strains, ‘N^o.2’ and ‘N^o.4’, and Alice Springs (NT) were exposed in topical bioassays employing deltamethrin and two pyrethroid synergists: piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and EN16/5-1. PBO inhibits both monooxygenases and esterases, whereas EN16/5-1 will inhibit esterases only. Thus in a comparative bioassay, the results can infer the dominant enzyme system. The Parramatta strain was then selected to study the potential presence of cuticle thickening. Nine-day-old male bed bugs were exposed to filter papers treated with the highest label rate of Demand Insecticide^®(200mL/10L of 25g/L lambda-cyhalothrin) and were grouped according to time-to-knockdown (< 2 hours, ≥ 4 hours, and survivors at 24 hours). Measurements of mean cuticle thickness at the transverse midpoint of the second leg tarsus were taken under electron microscope. Results/Conclusion: All strains possessed resistance that was inhibited by the synergists, with the Parramatta and Melbourne N^o.2 indicating esterase-dominance, and Alice Springs and Melbourne N^o.4 indicating cytochrome P450 monooxygenase-dominance. Cuticular measurements demonstrated that bed bugs surviving deltamethrin exposure had significantly thicker cuticles, denoting a novel form of resistance in these insects. doi: 10.1603/ICE.2016.92553

 

You can also see Stephen Doggett (co-author and photographer of A Guide to Mosquitoes of Australia) speaking on photographing mosquitoes to in the symposium “Insect Photography Symposium: Bringing the Small to the World.”

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You can join the conversation on Twitter and keep an eye on all the fun in Orlando by keeping an eye on the tweet stream!

 

Mosquitoes, Gold Coast and the latest arbovirus research

This week I’ve been on the Gold Coast for the 12th Mosquito Control Association of Australia and Arbovirus Research in Australia Symposium. The theme of the meeting was “Managing challenges and threats with new technology” and included presentations covering a range of topics, from remote piloted aircraft for mosquito control to the discovery of insect-specific viruses and their potential to stop outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease.

You can check out some of the tweets shared during the meeting here.

I found myself on ten papers presented at the meeting and I’ve provided the abstracts below!

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Does surrounding land use influence the mosquito populations of urban mangroves?

Suzi B. Claflin¹ and Cameron E. Webb^2,3

¹Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; ²Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW; ³Department of Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, Westmead Hospital, NSW 2145, Australia

Mosquitoes associated with mangrove habitats pose a pest and public health risk. These habitats in urban environments are also threatened by urbanisation and climate change. As a consequence, urban mangrove management must strike a balance between environmental conservation and minimising public health risks. Land use may play a key role in shaping the mosquito community within urban mangroves through either species spillover or altering the abundance of mosquitoes associated with the mangrove. In this study, we explore the impact of land use within 500m of urban mangroves on the abundance and diversity of adult mosquito populations. Carbon dioxide baited traps were used to sample host-seeking female mosquitoes around nine mangrove forest sites along the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Specimens were identified to species and for each site, mosquito species abundance, species richness and diversity were calculated and were analyzed in linear mixed effects models. We found that the percentage of residential land and bushland in the surrounding area had a negative effect on mosquito abundance and species richness. Conversely, the amount of mangrove had a significant positive effect on mosquito abundance, and the amount of industrial land had a significant positive effect on species richness. These results demonstrate the need for site-specific investigations of mosquito communities to assist local authorities develop policies for urban development and wetland rehabilitation.

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Do urban wetlands increase mosquito-related public health risks?

Jayne K. Hanford¹, Cameron E. Webb^2,3, Dieter F. Hochuli¹

¹ School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney; ² Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, Level 3 ICPMR, Westmead Hospital, Westmead; ³Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Sydney

Wetlands in urban areas are frequently constructed or rehabilitated to improve stormwater quality and downstream aquatic health. In addition to improving water quality, these wetlands can provide aesthetic, recreational and biodiversity values to communities. However, urban wetlands are often perceived to proliferate nuisance-biting and pathogen-transmitting mosquitoes which can, in severe cases, erode goodwill in the community for protecting these valuable ecosystems.  We compared mosquito assemblages at 24 natural and constructed wetlands in the greater Sydney region, Australia. Our aims were to determine if wetlands with high aquatic biodiversity posed reduced mosquito-related public health risks, and if these links vary across the urban-rural gradient. At each wetland we sampled adult and larval mosquitoes, aquatic macroinvertebrates and physical habitat variables on two occasions through summer and autumn.  Although larval mosquito abundance was low across all sites, there was a high diversity of adult mosquito species, and assemblages varied greatly between sites and seasons. Species of wetland-inhabiting mosquitoes showed vastly different responses to aquatic biodiversity and physical habitat variables. There were strong relationships between the abundance of some mosquito species and aquatic macroinvertebrate richness, while others mosquito species showed strong relationships with the percentage of urbanisation surrounding the wetland.  Effectively integrating wetlands into cities requires balancing wetland design for water infrastructure purposes, biodiversity resources and public health and wellbeing requirements. Understanding relationships between biodiversity value and mosquito-related public health risks will enhance the value of constructed urban wetlands in cities while minimising risks posed by mosquitoes.

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Aedes aegypti at Sydney Airport; the detections and response

Doggett, S.L. and Webb C.E

Department of Medical Entomology, CIDMLS, Pathology West, ICPMR,
Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW.

Despite a huge increase in the detections of exotic vectors at ports around Australia, up until 2016 there had been no detection of Aedes aegypti at the Sydney International Airport. However, this changed on 14/Jan/2016 when two larvae were observed in an ovitrap serviced by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (formerly AQIS), as part of their routine surveillance activities for the detection of exotic vectors. These larvae were confirmed as being Ae. aegypti. Thereafter, there were a further nine separate detections of Ae. aegypti up until 4/Mar/2016. Six were via BG traps, one in an ovitrap, and there were two separate instances of an adult mosquito being collected in open areas. The majority of detections occurred in areas of the airport known as the ‘basement areas’. This is where the bags are unloaded from the air cans onto convey belts for collection directly upstairs by the passengers. Response measures undertaken included: (1) enhanced surveillance; BG traps were increased in number from 2 to 12, and traps inspected at more frequent intervals; (2) insecticide treatments; thermal fogging and surface sprays were conducted of the relevant areas; (3) vector surveys; a comprehensive audit of the airport was undertaken to examine the potential for localized mosquito breeding. In the case of the vector surveys, some 107 potential sites were identified and grouped into risk categories. No Ae. aegypti were discovered breeding, although Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. notoscriptus were found, and recommendations to prevent future localized breeding were made.

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Communicating the risks of local and exotic mosquito-borne disease threats to the community through social and traditional media

Cameron E Webb^1,2

¹Department of Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, Level 3, ICPMR, Westmead Hospital, WESTMEAD NSW 2145 AUSTRALIA; ²Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, AUSTRALIA

Mosquito-borne disease management in Australia faces challenges on many fronts. Many gaps exist in our understanding of the drivers of exotic and endemic mosquito-borne disease risk but also the pathways to ensuring the community embrace personal protection measures to avoid mosquito bites. While traditional media has been the mainstay of public health communications by local authorities, social media provides a new avenues for disseminating information and engaging with the wider community. This presentation will share some insights into how the use of social media has connected new and old communications strategies to not only extend the reach of public health messages but also provide an opportunity to promote entomological research and wetland conservation. A range of social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and WordPress, were employed to disseminate public health messages and engage the community and traditional media outlets. Engagement with the accounts of traditional media (e.g. radio, print, television, online) was found to be the main route to increased exposure and, subsequently, to increased access of public health information online. With the increasing accessibility of the community to online resources via smartphones, researchers and public health advocates must develop strategies to effectively use social media. Many people now turn to social media as a source of news and information and those in the field of public health, as well as entomological research more generally, must take advantage of these new opportunities.

See the slides here.

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So, you want to write a field guide?

Cameron E. Webb^1,2, Stephen L. Doggett¹ and Richard C. Russell²

¹Department of Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, Level 3, ICPMR, Westmead Hospital, WESTMEAD NSW 2145 AUSTRALIA; ²Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, AUSTRALIA

We know a lot about Australian mosquitoes. They’re one of the most studied insects in the country. Their pest and public health threats warrant a better understanding of their biology and ecology. There is still plenty we don’t know. We may not understand their ecological role in the local environment very well and there are many mosquitoes we know exist but have very little information about them. We still need to give many mosquitoes a formal scientific name. There is a reason why so many field guides are written by retired scientists. It’s not just about expertise, it’s about time too! In early 2016, “A Guide to Mosquitoes of Australia” to was published by CSIRO Publishing and marked the culmination of many years work. This work involved chasing mosquitoes from coastal rock pools to snow melt streams. We carried eskies of buzzing mosquitoes on airplanes from northern Australia to laboratories in Western Sydney and there were many late nights of wrangling those mosquitoes to get the perfect photo. Lots of mosquito bites too. Many, many mosquito bites. Putting together this field guide wasn’t an easy task and for all those involved it proved a challenge in many different ways. Digging out old papers to colour-correcting digital photographs proved time consuming but the biggest delays in finishing this project was a problem that plagues many field guide writer, “species creep”! Completing the guide was only possible with the kindness, generosity and co-operation of many mosquito researchers around the country.

See the slides here.

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Arbovirus and vector surveillance in NSW, 2014/15-2015/16

 Doggett, S.L., Clancy, J., Haniotis, J., Webb C. and Toi, C.

Department of Medical Entomology, CIDMLS, Pathology West, ICPMR,
Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW.

The NSW Arbovirus Surveillance and Vector Monitoring Program acts as an early warning system for arbovirus activity. This is achieved through the monitoring of mosquito abundance, detection of arboviruses from mosquitoes, and the testing for seroconversions to MVEV and KUNV in sentinel chickens. A summary of the last two seasons will be presented. The 2014-2015 season started early with elevated temperatures through late 2014, however conditions were relative dry with neither Forbes’ nor the Nicholls’ hypothesis being suggestive of an MVEV epidemic. Despite this, for the inland region, human notifications were close to average, with 260RRV & 11BFV). There were 12 arboviral detections from the inland including 5BFV, 6RRV & 1STR, with no seroconversions. In contrast, the coastal strip experienced the largest epidemic of RRV in recorded history. The 1,225 cases were close to double the average, with much of the activity occurring in the far north coast. There were 41 isolates from the mosquitoes trapped along the coast and included 6BFV, 29RRV, 4EHV and 2STRV. An intense El Niño occurred during the 2015-2016 season and thus it was extremely dry across the state. Again the Forbes’ and the Nicholls’ hypothesis were not suggestive of an MVEV outbreak. For the inland, mosquito numbers were well below average and there were only two arboviral detections from the mosquitoes (1RRV & 1 BFV), with no seroconversions. Similarly, mosquito collections were below average and there were also two arboviral detections from the trapped mosquitoes (1BFV & 1EHV). Human cases were below average.

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Are remote piloted aircraft the future of mosquito control in urban wetlands?

Cameron E Webb^1,2 Stephen L. Doggett¹ and Swapan Paul³

¹Department of Medical Entomology, NSW Health Pathology, Level 3, ICPMR, Westmead Hospital, WESTMEAD NSW 2145 AUSTRALIA; ²Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, AUSTRALIA; ³Sydney Olympic Park Authority, 8 Australia Ave, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127, AUSTRALIA

Mosquito control in urban wetlands will become increasing important. The expansion of residential areas will continue to encroach on natural mosquito habitats, particularly coastal wetlands, and expose the community to the health risks associated with mosquitoes. In many existing areas, ever increasing density of human populations associated with high rise residential developments will further expose people to mosquitoes. The increasing urban development adjacent to wetlands can restrict the ability to use traditional larvicide and insect growth regulator application methods. In 2016 a trial of larvicide application via remote piloted aircraft was undertaken in an area of estuarine wetlands at Sydney Olympic Park. An existing mosquito control program involving helicopter application of larvicides has been in place for over a decade. Post-treatment mortality of Aedes vigilax and Culex sitiens larvae was compared between bioassay and long-term surveillance sites within the wetlands. While there was a substantial reduction in larval densities post-treatment, the treatments via remote piloted aircraft were less effective than those of traditional piloted aircraft. The results of this preliminary trial suggest that the use of remote piloted aircraft has potential but the operational aspects of this application method requires careful consideration if there are to be as effective as existing strategies.

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Seasonal Activity, Vector Relationships and Genetic Analysis of Mosquito-Borne Stratford Virus

Cheryl S. Toi¹, Cameron E. Webb^1,2, John Haniotis¹, John Clancy¹ and Stephen Doggett¹

¹Department of Medical Entomology, Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Pathology West – Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, NSW; ²Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, NSW;

There are many gaps to be filled in our understanding of mosquito-borne viruses, their relationships with vectors and reservoir hosts, and the environmental drivers of seasonal activity. Stratford virus (STRV) belongs to the genus Flavivirus and has been isolated from mosquitoes and infected humans in Australia. However, little is known of its vector and reservoir host associations. A total of 43 isolates of STRV from field collected mosquitoes collected in NSW between 1995 and 2013 were examined to determine the genetic diversity between virus isolates and their relationship with mosquito species by year of collection. The virus was isolated from six mosquito species; Aedes aculeatus, Aedes alternans, Aedes notoscriptus, Aedes procax Aedes vigilax, and Anopheles annulipes. While there were distinct differences in temporal and spatial activity of STRV, with peaks of activity in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2013, there was a high degree of sequence homology (89.1% – 97.7%) found between isolates with no evidence of mosquito species, geographic, or temporal divergence. The result suggests the virus is geographically widespread in NSW (albeit only from coastal regions) and increased local STRV activity is likely to be driven by reservoir host factors and local environmental conditions influencing vector abundance. While STRV may not currently be associated with major outbreaks of human disease, with the potential for urbanisation and climate change to increase mosquito-borne disease risks, and the potential for genomic changes which could produce pathogenic strains, understanding the drivers of STRV activity may assist the development of strategic response to public health risks posed by zoonotic flaviviruses in Australia.

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Insect specific flaviviruses suppress West Nile virus replication and transmission

Sonja Hall-Mendelin¹, Breeanna McLean², Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann³, Cameron E. Webb⁴ Jody Hobson-Peters², Roy Hall², Andrew van den Hurk¹

¹Public Health Virology, Forensic and Scientific Services, Department of Health, Queensland Government, PO Box 594, Archerfield 4108, Queensland, Australia; ²Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Queensland, Australia; ³School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Gatton 4343, Queensland, Australia; ⁴Medical Entomology, Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia

Diseases caused by mosquito-borne flaviviruses, including dengue (DENV), Zika and West Nile viruses (WNV), are a global problem. New molecular tools have led to recent discoveries of a plethora of insect-specific flaviviruses (ISF) that infect mosquitoes but not vertebrates. Preliminary reports have suggested that transmission of WNV can be suppressed by some ISFs in co-infected mosquitoes, thus the ecology of ISFs and their potential as natural regulators of flaviviral disease transmission is intriguing. In vitro studies with two ISFs discovered in Australia, Palm Creek virus (PCV) and Parramatta River virus (PaRV), demonstrated suppression of WNV, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) and DENV replication in mosquito cells (C6/36) previously infected with either of these ISFs. Further in vivo experiments indicated that these ISFs were not transmitted horizontally in the saliva, and that PaRV relied on vertical transmission through the mosquito egg to the progeny. Additional studies revealed a significant reduction of infection and transmission rates of WNV when Culex annulirostris were previously infected with PCV, compared to control groups without PCV. Of particular interest was the specific localisation of ISFs to the midgut epithelium of mosquitoes infected via natural route (vertical transmission – PaRV) or by intrathoracic injection (PCV). Overall these results confirm a role for ISFs in regulating the transmission of pathogenic flaviviruses by mosquitoes and that this interference may occur in the midgut where initial infection occurs. Further research is needed to determine the precise mechanism of this phenomenon and its potential for mosquito-borne disease management.

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Neges, Nidos and Nings – so that’s what’s killing my mossie cells!

Roy Hall¹, Jody Hobson-Peters¹, Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann¹, Caitlin O’Brien¹, Breeanna McLean¹, Agathe Colmant¹, Jessica Harrison¹, Thisun Piyasena¹, Natalee Newton¹, Waylon Wiseman¹, Marcus Mah^1,2, Natalie Prow², Andreas Suhrbier², David Warrilow³, Andrew van den Hurk³, Sonja Hall-Mendelin³, Cheryl Johansen⁴, Steven Davis⁵, Weng Chow⁶, Stephen Doggett⁷, John Haniotis⁷ and Cameron Webb⁷.

¹Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Australia; ²QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Brisbane, Australia; ³Public Health Virology, Forensic and Scientific Services, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia; ⁴Arbovirus Surveillance and Research, Infectious Diseases Surveillance Unit, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Western Australia; ⁵Berrimah Veterinary Laboratories, Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; ⁶Vector Surveillance and Control, Australian Army Malaria Institute, Enoggera, Queensland, Australia; ⁷Department of Medical Entomology, West Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Isolation of viruses from mosquitoes is an important component of arbovirus surveillance and virus discovery programs. In our lab, these viruses are detected in inoculated cultures by the appearance of cytopathic effects (CPE) in mosquito cell monolayers or by reactivity of monoclonal antibodies to viral antigens or dsRNA intermediates. Isolates are then identified by RT-PCR or deep sequencing.  We detected extensive CPE in many mosquito cell cultures inoculated with mosquito homogenates from several regions of Australia, however these isolates were not identified by specific mAbs or RT-PCRs designed to detect known arboviruses.  When we investigated their identity by deep sequencing, a new species (Castlerea virus – CsV) in the unclassified taxon Negevirus, was identified in several mosquito species from WA and Brisbane. Two viruses in the newly established Mesoniviridae family (order Nidovirales) were also identified; a novel species named Casuarina virus (CASV) from Coquillettidia xanthogaster in Darwin and from Culex annulirostris in Cairns, and the first Australian isolates of Nam Dinh virus from several mosquito species in Brisbane and Perth. Many isolates of a new genetic lineage of Liao Ning virus, a member of the Seadornavirus genus (family Reoviridae), were also obtained from several mosquito species from different regions of Australia.  These new viruses were isolated at very high frequency in some mosquito collections, and were often found to co-infect isolates of other mosquito-borne viruses making it difficult to obtain pure cultures. We have now developed neutralising antibodies to each virus to facilitate selective removal of these viruses from mixed cultures.

 

That was a busy meeting. I’m exhausted but cannot wait until the next meeting in 2018. Are you a member of the Mosquito Control Association of Australia?

 

 

Summer summary of mosquito media madness

Summer is always a busy time for me. As well as plenty of time sloshing about in the wetlands, there is often lots of interest from mosquito-curious media. There has been some intense bursts of activity in previous summers but the 2015-2016 was particularly interesting.

I certainly covered some new ground this summer. I responded to over 160 individual media requests in the past 6 months. From flies and food safety to the emergence of Zika virus. Here is a wrap from my media adventures and some valuable lessons learned for future science and public health communication.

The good news of new virus discoveries

Usually, the discovery of a new mosquito-borne virus brings with it new concern for public health. This time though, there was some good news.

Towards the end of 2015, a paper reporting on a collaborative research project between University of Queensland, QLD Health and University of Sydney was published in Virology. This was the first publication detailing the discovery of Parramatta River virus, an insect specific virus that exclusively infects the mosquito Aedes vigilax. This virus does not infect people and poses no health risk.

A joint media release was issued by University of Queensland and University of Sydney and there was plenty of media attention. Not surprising given the usual negative associations with mosquito-borne pathogens!

There were dozens of articles, much of the attention focused on the team at University of QLD. Dr Jody Hobson-Peters was kept busy with local media including ABC and Brisbane Times. It was a great experience sharing the research with colleagues in Queensland, particularly great seeing so much exposure for PhD student Breeanna McLean and her newly published research.

I was surprised at how little attention there was in the news from Sydney media. The lesson here though was more about bad timing than uninteresting research. A couple of weeks after the initial media release, I forwarded around a few emails and sent out a couple of tweets and next thing you know, we made the front page of the local newspaper, the Parramatta Advertiser (see above). It was some great local coverage, not only about the virus discovery but it also provided an opportunity to raise awareness of mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease on the eve of summer!

Lesson learned: A good reminder that if your research isn’t picked up immediately, give it another shot a few weeks later. Timing may make all the difference but perseverance does too!

To stop sickness, swat or spray

Just in time for Christmas lunch and summer holiday picnics, I published an article on flies and food safety at The Conversation. I really expected this article to slip under the radar of most people. Coming out on Christmas eve doesn’t seem likely many would be clicking about on the internet but within a few days over 600,000 people had clicked on the piece!

Many of those clicks were thanks to the article being shared by IFLS but there was also plenty of interest from local media and I was busy with interview requests from ABC Local Radio across the country. Who doesn’t love hearing about how flies poop and vomit on your food? I was even interviewed by Grey Nomad Magazine!

Lesson learned: Applying a little science to seasonal urban myths and common uncertainties can prove popular and may be a good opportunity to promote a little science!

Rain, rain everywhere with mozzies soon to come

With all the talk of El Nino and predictions of a hot and dry summer for the east coast of Australia, the summer was actually reasonably mild and extremely wet. Sydney was particularly battered by a series of storms and intense rainfall early in 2016.

More water generally means more mosquitoes. In response to the rain, many media outlets were interested in chatting about the prospects of a bumper mosquito problem. As well as talking about the prospects of an increase in mosquito-borne disease risk, it was a great opportunity to talk about personal protection measures.

There were some radio, print and tv spots that provided opportunities to talk about how to choose and use the right repellents.

In 2015 I published a paper in the Medical Journal of Australia explaining that health authorities need to provide more guidance on how the community can get mosquito repellents working more effectively.

Typical health warnings and media release from health authorities (usually limited to grabs on news bulletins) but when there is an opportunity to do longer form radio interviews, there is a chance to put an emphasis on aspect of public health messages. The hook to get these longer spots is giving more than just warnings, by mixing up some interesting things about mosquitoes, you can catch a little extra attention and sneak in the public health messages between the fun and fascinating facts about mosquitoes!

One news outlet was really insistent in grabbing a hold of me for some comments ahead of the evening bulletin. They even sent a crew to meet me in the city while I was taking the kids along to the Sydney Festival!

Lesson learned: When doing tv for the evening news, it is ok to wear a t-shirt, shorts and runners just so long as you have a rain jacket handy to make you like like you could have just stepped straight out of the wetlands!

From African forests to South American cities

While many of us were keeping our eyes on the developing outbreak of mosquito-borne Zika virus in South America towards the end of 2015, it wasn’t until February 2016 that the situation really grabbed the attention of the world’s media.

In late January, I published a piece at The Conversation titled “Does Zika virus pose a threat to Australia?” It prompted a little interest but it was the media conference coordinated by University of Sydney Media and Communications together with Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC) that coincided with the announcement of the World Health Organization that the Zika virus outbreak was a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Together with colleagues from the University of Sydney’s Marie Bashir Institute of Infectious Disease and Biosecurity, I spoke at a media conference broadcast nationally on ABC News 24. There was a huge amount of media stories stemming from this media conference with over 500 individual articles identified across radio, tv, print and online. During the days and weeks following, I felt like I was spending more time at the ABC studios in Ultimo than I was in our lab! There were days when I spent hours on the phone doing radio interviews.

There were a couple of great longer form interviews that I really appreciated the opportunity to contribute to such as ABC Radio National’s Health Report and Rear Vision. There were also a couple of podcasts too, check out Science on Top and Flash Forward.

This flood of media requests also exposed me to a few more new experiences. There were live tv appearances on Sunrise, ABC News 24 and Sky News but probably one of the most interesting was my spot on Channel Ten’s The Project. It was interesting for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I was warned early on that one of the guests on the panel was comedian Jimmy Carr, a somewhat controversial figure notorious for jokes a little too close to bad taste. I’m not typically one to play the “wacky scientist” during interviews but what I was most cautious of was not being seen to be treating a very serious disease outbreak too lightly. I was determined to play the straight guy. In the end the interview turned ok but there were a couple of awkward moments that, luckily, ended up being edited out.

Secondly, simply doing the interview was unusual. It was a pre-recorded interview with me in a tiny room at the Channel Ten studio in Sydney and the panel in the Melbourne studio. I was sitting in front of a green-screen, staring down the camera with an earpiece blasting away in my ear. I have done live crosses before but they’re all been one-on-one interviews. This time it was with the panel and I found it incredibly difficult to get the feel for each of the panelists when they were asking questions. Missing that eye-to-eye contact was a disconcerting experience. Luckily, all turned out well in the end.

Lesson learned: Lots (I mean LOTS) learned while dealing with the interest in Zika virus! Probably another post in itself…but I would say that managing this volume of media wasn’t easy and it did eat up a lot of time (even though communicating public health messages is central to my “day job”) but this was important work.

A morning with Dr Karl!

When it comes to science communicators in Australia, there are few with a higher profile than Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. We’d spoken on a number of occasions about mosquitoes but I’d never actually met him in person before. “Dr Karl” invited me to hang out for a morning recording interviews for ABC News 24, ABC Local Radio and also guest on his national “Science Talk” segment on Triple J’s Mornings Show with Zan Rowe.

The experience of a behind-the-scenes perspective on Karl’s hectic schedule and how he manages the frenetic pace of work at the ABC was an eye opener. Doing the hour long segment on Triple J was great, enlightening to get questions from a slice of the Australian community I don’t usually cross paths with when doing the usual community engagement. I good reminder of just how much anxiety there can be within the community when news of international disease outbreaks occur. Not surprising given the thousands of Australians travelling to South America each month….with more to come later this year when the Rio Olympic Games kick off!

You can listen to the segment here and you can also follow Dr Karl on Twitter.

Lesson learned: From a public health perspective, this is a great reminder that the concerns and anxieties around infectious disease can change depending on the sector of the community you’re dealing with. The core messages may remain the same but you’ll always need to consider your audience when fine tuning your public health messages.

So, was all this worth it?

It was stressful. It was fun. It eroded much of my time that may have been spent in other ways but I see this as “doing my job” perhaps a little more than pure research scientists do. But how does all this convert into tangible metrics. How do you measure the reach and economics of all these media activities?

I’m fortunate to be supported by the University of Sydney media and communications team that helps out by providing some data on the metrics of my media activities each summer. What was all this time and effort worth?

Between November 2015 and Match 2016, I was quoted in over 160 media items. This adds up to a cumulative audience of around 8.9 million people, that is quite some reach! How much was it worth? Based on current advertising rates, about $1.6 million.

I’ve written before about how we can better value science and public health communication. Collecting these types of metrics can be useful for a range of purposes. Recently, I’ve been including media engagement as an “in kind” contribution to grant applications with valuation calculated on average media coverage that may be expected.

The lesson here is to take the time to record your media activities, not just so you have a list to demonstrate quantity but also so you can assess audience and value to your media activities. Work with your media and communications departments to see what extra information you can collect.

Got any other tips? Share them via Twitter!

 

 

 

 

 

Managing ‘Mozziegeddon’, Media and Public Health Messages

Beer, high tides, public holidays and blood thirsty mozzies. The perfect mix to set the media into a spin. How can you get the best public health messages out about mosquito bite protection?

It was almost as tricky managing the media this summer as it was the mozzies. Since late October, I’ve been interviewed on almost 50 occasions. A mix of pre-dawn calls from radio stations to live crossed to nationally broadcast breakfast televsion to taking talkback and dealing with mobile phone dropouts. It was a sweaty and stressful couple of months….and ‘mozzie season’ still isn’t over just yet.

The last few years have followed a pretty similar pattern. I get my first few calls around August/September. This is usually when we get our first blast of unseasonal heat and there are typically a few stories about people noticing bugs about their home and are worried about an early start to the mozzie season.

Mozzie season kicked off early

This year we genuinely did have an early start to the mozzie season. The warmest spring on record kicked off the mozzie season early and one of the first big stories I did for Channel 9 News was almost derailed by swarms of mozzies! A few of the crew needed to retreat to the safety of their car. You can listen to me speaking with ABC New Radio here.

Following plenty of rain in early December, mosquito populations starting jumping up along the coast. Just in time for the Christmas holidays. During this period it is pretty common to respond to requests from media to talk about mozzies, particularly if there have been some public health alters from local health authorities.

Getting ready for a live cross to Weekend Today (Channel 9) but what you cannot see in this shot is the hundreds of mosquitoes that were swarming around me, standing in the middle of the mangroves for 20min getting ready for the segment attracted plenty of mozzie attention!

A few things helped keep mozzies in the news. There were health warnings from local authorities after the detection of Ross River virus in southern Sydney. There were warnings about a new outbreak of dengue in Far North QLD. Flooding in central Australia also prompted warnings of outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease.

Then there was this piece I wrote on why mosquitoes bite some people more than others that attracted plenty of attention too….over 1.2 million readers in fact (thanks to republication by IFLS, SBS and Mamamia)!

Moztralia Day Mozziegeddon

As we headed towards our national holiday weekend and Australia Day celebrations, there were warnings that a big boost in mosquito populations were on their way. Yes, “mozziegeddon” was coming and the pesky little biters were set to turn our long weekend into a “moztralia day bloodbath“. Worse still, those taking part in the traditional Australia Day past time of beer drinking were being scared off the booze by fears of becoming “mozzie magnets“.

“Mozzigeddon” turns Australia Day into Mozztralia Day! Great cartoon by Paul Zanetti accompanying a story at News.com

There is little surprise that stories about beer drinking and mozzies attract plenty of attention. It does almost every year. However, this year was a little different because health authorities were concerned about potential increases in mosquito populations and given recent detections of mosquito-borne pathogens such as Ross River virus, there was concern about public health risks. Those risks range from both the north coast of NSW to north-west of WA!

There was plenty of mosquito media coverage from SE QLD too. Local authorities were battling big mosquito populations and trying to control “3000 known mosquito breeding sites” the next generation of mosquitoes hatching following heavy rain and tidal flooding of local wetlands.

Local insect repellent manufacturers were also taking advantage of the boost in mosquito numbers. I’ve noticed an increase in tv and radio ads spruiking mosquito repellents and Aerogard also sent out “swat” teams to local parklands around Sydney on Australia Day promoting their “Mozzie Index“* website!

Aerogard “Bite Busters” hit the prime picnic spots around Sydney on Australia Day

How could this media interest help spread the word on effectively stopping mosquito bites?

In the lead up to the long weekend I spoke with the breakfast show on 2UE (you can listen to the interview via link), Angela Catterns on 2UE, Chris Smith on 2GB as well as Robbie Buck and Linda Mottram on 702 Sydney. I provided a couple of brief grabs for news bulletins and even did my first live cross for the Sunrise breakfast program on Channel 7. You can also listen to interviews with 2SER, ABC Perth and ABC South East SA. [update 26 February 2015. There were a few more interviews, one fun one was with Richard Stubbs for 774 ABC Melbourne and you can listen in below, another was with Dom Knight on 702 ABC Sydney and you can read about that here. and I also chatted with Patricia Karvelas on Radio National Drive and you can listen here.]

It can be tricky getting good public health messages out during these very brief interviews, particularly for television. Radio can be pretty good as there is often plenty of time to get the message out (sometimes even time for talk back callers and questions) but for some of the commercial stations, time can be brief. Television is particularly challenging, I usually spend more time in the make up chair than being interviewed!

This summer I’ve been determined to ensure some key messages get out, particularly about choosing and using insect repellents most effectively. This is an issue I feel strongly about and I have an article coming out shortly in the Medical Journal of Australia on how local health authorities can do this a little better.

The two key messages were “if you’re using botanical based topical repellents, they need to be reapplied more frequently than the recommended DEET and picaridin based repellents” and “when using repellents, they must be applied as a thin coat over all exposed skin to get the best protection, not a dab here and there”.

Overall, I think I managed to get these two points into most radio and television interviews and I was happy to see that the general message got through in a lot of the print/online media too.

Below are some of my tips on getting a specific message out while dealing with the media.

1. Prepare. You would practice giving a conference presentation ahead of time so why not prepare for media? Think about the messages and how you can deliver them. What questions might you get asked? What will be the style of the presenter? Are there any questions you may be asked that you may want to avoid answering (e.g. questions of a political nature or something that could embarrass your employer)? How can you do that?

2. Learn from the professionals. If know you’re going to do some media in the coming weeks or months. Spend some time listening to talk back radio and reading newspapers. Take note of the number and length of quotes journalists use in articles. Make their job a little easier by providing concise quotes where possible. How do radio broadcasters conduct interviews? Listen to politicians and journalists being interviewed. How do they get their message across (or don’t in some circumstances). What makes you “switch off” from an interview – is it the topic or interviewee?

3. Create bridges between questions and your message. This is the thing I’ve found quick tricky but once you’ve got the hang of it, you can more effectively get the message out. There may not be a question asked that specifically relates to the message you need to get out. Learn how to transition from a brief response to the question asked onto the key messages you want to get out there. Don’t just launch off into your spiel at first chance, it is important to engage with presenter too, its a subtle art but like all things, it is only hard before it becomes easy.

4. Post-interview review. I’ll often take notes after an interview that help prepare for the next one. Things like the type of questions asked or how I answered questions, particularly if I feel my responses were clunky or I rambled a little! I’ve always found it interesting that slight differences in the way that questions are asked can often throw you off balance in an interview. If there are talkback callers, what questions were asked, especially if there was something out of left field! Making a note of these can help when preparing for the next batch of media.

5. Keep track of media activity. You never know when it may come in handy when applying for a promotion, grant or new job. I try to keep track of all media activities by recording the date, journalist, media outlet and brief description of topic. You can also speak to your local media and communications unit to see if they gather statistics on these things too. The team at the University of Sydney are great and it is fascinating to compare the analysis of different media activities, their reach and estimated value.

Perhaps the trickiest thing in all this is assessing whether this media activity actually helped the community prevent mosquito bites. It will be almost impossible to tell from human notification data on mosquito-borne disease given the numbers jump around so much from year to year anyway. What really need is some more attitudinal studies to see how people seek out and follow advice provided by local health authorities on mosquito-bone disease prevention strategies. Another thing for the “to do” list

[update 21 March 2015] Following the detection of Ross River virus amongst mosquitoes collected in NSW combined with a dramatic increase in human notifications of Ross River virus disease, there was another wave of interest by local media. You read a piece at the Sydney Morning Herald and watch a segment with me from Nine News.

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*A disclaimer: I provided some assistance to a local PR company back in 2012 that developed the “Mozzie Index” for Aerogard, particularly some info on the associations between mosquitoes and local environmental conditions.