Latest news with #JolyonMedlock
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'Quick' results for West Nile virus mosquito tests
An expert has said there will be a "quick-turnaround" in finding out whether mosquitoes in Nottinghamshire have West Nile UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) previously said fragments of the virus - which can sometimes make people seriously ill - had been found in wetland in Retford, summer, Gamston near Retford will be among a number of locations to undergo mosquito surveillance as part of a national project to understand mosquito activity across UKHSA said to date there had been no cases of people catching West Nile virus in the UK. The UKHSA is working with Bassetlaw District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council to increase surveillance on land along the River Idle, where nuisance biting from mosquitoes has taken place in previous agency added the risk to the public is "low". 'Detect the virus' Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at UKHSA, told the BBC that the agency had set up traps for the Medlock said "As the number of mosquitoes start to pick up, we start to detect them in our traps, we'll then identify them."We'll separate out the ones that we are more concerned about and then they will go to the animal and plant health agency for testing."So within a quite quick turnaround, we'll have some results on whether we can detect the virus or not." Work has been undertaken in Gamston since 2018 to reshape the wetland and reduce the flood has minimised habitats for the mosquitoes and has curbed the issue of biting, said Nottinghamshire County Robbins, the county's director of public health and communities, said: "This type of mosquito is native to the UK."Mosquitoes in the UK are also commonly found in wet woodland areas, ponds, ditches, marshes, and even garden water butts."To avoid being bitten by a mosquito, wear long-sleeved clothing and trousers to cover your arms and legs, use insect repellent on your arms and legs, or use blinds or screens to help keep mosquitoes out of homes."
BBC News
21-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Study finds pheasant link to Lyme disease germ in ticks
Ticks are more likely to carry the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in areas where pheasants are released, new research has studied ticks in 25 woodland areas in the South West where pheasants are released and 25 nearby control sites where no pheasants are found the bacteria that can cause the infectious Lyme disease, Borrelia spp., was almost 2.5 times more common in ticks in the pheasant-release research was carried out by the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on the University of Exeter's Penryn campus in Cornwall and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). 'Increased risk' Emile Michels from the centre said pheasants were known to have a relatively high likelihood of contracting and retransmitting the said: "More research is needed, but our findings suggest there may be an increased risk of potential exposure to Borrelia-infected ticks for people – such as gamekeepers – who work in woodlands where pheasants are released in numbers."Researchers tested ticks and found that, overall, the proportion containing Borrelia was 7.8% in pheasant-release woodlands and 3.2% where pheasants were not Jolyon Medlock, head of the medical entomology and zoonoses ecology team at UKHSA, said: "While we have observed an increase in the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease in ticks, we do not have data on the resulting impact on human health, including evidence of Lyme infection."He said they would continue to research what drives the transmission of the bacteria.
