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Aedes Polynesiensis
''Aedes polynesiensis'', the Polynesian tiger mosquito, is only found in the Oceania, South Pacific on the islands of Austral Islands, Cook Islands, Ellice Islands, Fiji, Fiji Islands, Hoorn Islands, Marquesas Islands, Pitcairn Island, Samoa Islands, Society Islands, Tokelau Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago. It is a Vector (epidemiology), vector of dengue virus, dengue, Ross River virus, and lymphatic filariasis, and a probable Vector (epidemiology), vector of Zika virus.European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 2014. ''Rapid risk assessment: Zika virus infection outbreak, French Polynesia''. Stockholm: ECDC, http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/Zika-virus-French-Polynesia-rapid-risk-assessment.pdf , 14 February 2014. Adults lay eggs in natural and human-associated pools of freshwater. Common larval habitats include tree holes, holes in volcanic rock formations, coconut shells, water storage containers (drums), and discarded trash (including tires and bottles).B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceania
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its continental landmass. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, at the centre of the land and water hemispheres, water hemisphere, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of about and a population of around 46.3 million as of 2024. Oceania is the smallest continent in land area and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, second-least populated after Antarctica. Oceania has a diverse mix of economies from the developed country, highly developed and globally competitive market economy, financial markets of Australia, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and New Zealand, which rank high in quality of life and Human Development Index, to the much least developed countries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokelau Islands
Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. They have a combined land area of . In addition to these three, Swains Island (), which forms part of the same archipelago, is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute; it is currently administered by the United States as part of American Samoa. Tokelau lies north of the Samoan Islands, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands, and northwest of the Cook Islands. Tokelau has a population of approximately 1,500 people; it has the fourth-smallest population of any sovereign state or dependency in the world. As of the 2016 census, around 45% of its residents had been born overseas, mostly in Samoa or New Zealand. The populace has a life expectancy of 69, which is comparable to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zika Virus
Zika virus (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active ''Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus shares a genus with the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Since the 1950s, it has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007 to , the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic. The infection, known as Zika fever or Zika virus disease, often causes no or only mild symptoms, similar to a very mild form of dengue fever. While there is no specific treatment, paracetamol (acetaminophen) and rest may help with the symptoms. Zika can spread from a pregnant woman to her baby. This can result in microcephaly, severe brain malformations, and other b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lymphatic Filariasis
Lymphatic filariasis is a human disease caused by parasitic worms known as filarial worms. Usually acquired in childhood, it is a leading cause of permanent disability worldwide, impacting over a hundred million people and manifesting itself in a variety of severe clinical pathologies While most cases have no symptoms, some people develop a syndrome called elephantiasis, which is marked by severe swelling in the arms, legs, breasts, or genitals. The skin may become thicker as well, and the condition may become painful. Affected people are often unable to work and are often shunned or rejected by others because of their disfigurement and disability. It is the first of the mosquito-borne diseases to have been identified. The worms are spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes. Three types of worms are known to cause the disease: ''Wuchereria bancrofti'', ''Brugia malayi'', and '' Brugia timori'', with ''Wuchereria bancrofti'' being the most common. These worms damage the lym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ross River Virus
Ross River virus (RRV) is a small encapsulated single-strand RNA '' Alphavirus'' endemic to Australia, Papua New Guinea and other islands in the South Pacific. It is responsible for a type of mosquito-borne, non-lethal but extremely debilitating tropical disease known as Ross River fever, previously termed "epidemic polyarthritis". There is no known cure, and it can last in the host's system for up to 20 years. The virus is suspected to be enzootic in populations of various native Australian mammals, and has been found on occasion in horses. Classification and morphology Taxonomically, Ross River virus belongs to the virus genus '' Alphavirus'', which is part of the family ''Togaviridae''. The alphaviruses are a group of small enveloped single-strand positive-sense RNA viruses. RRV belongs to a subgroup of "Old World" (Eurasian-African-Australasian) alphaviruses, and belongs to the SF antigenic complex of the genus Alphavirus. The virions (virus particles) themselves contai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dengue Virus
Dengue virus (DENV) is the cause of dengue fever. It is a mosquito-borne, single positive-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''; genus '' Flavivirus''. Four serotypes of the virus have been found, and a reported fifth has yet to be confirmed,Dwivedi, V. D., Tripathi, I. P., Tripathi, R. C., Bharadwaj, S., & Mishra, S. K. (2017). Genomics, proteomics and evolution of ''Dengue virus''. Briefings in functional genomics.16(4): 217–227, https://doi.org/10.1093/bfgp/elw040 all of which can cause the full spectrum of disease. Nevertheless, the mainstream scientific community's understanding of dengue virus may be simplistic as, rather than distinct antigenic groups, a continuum appears to exist. This same study identified 47 strains of ''dengue virus''. Additionally, coinfection with and lack of rapid tests for Zika virus and chikungunya complicate matters in real-world infections. ''Dengue virus'' has increased dramatically within the last 20 years, becoming one of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector (epidemiology)
In epidemiology, a disease vector is any living agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen such as a parasite or microbe, to another living organism. Agents regarded as vectors are mostly blood-sucking (Hematophagy, hematophagous) arthropods such as mosquitoes. The first major discovery of a disease vector came from Ronald Ross in 1897, who discovered the malaria pathogen when he dissected the stomach tissue of a mosquito. Arthropods Arthropods form a major group of pathogen vectors with mosquitoes, Fly, flies, Sandfly, sand flies, lice, fleas, ticks, and mites transmitting a huge number of pathogens. Many such vectors are haematophagous, which feed on blood at some or all stages of their lives. When the insects and ticks feed on blood, the pathogen enters the blood stream of the host. This can happen in different ways. The ''Anopheles'' mosquito, a vector for malaria, filariasis, and various arthropod-borne-viruses (arboviruses), inserts its delicate mouthpart under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu Archipelago
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Rangiroa, Anaa, Fakarava, Hao (French Polynesia), Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared Polynesian culture, culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a overseas collectivity, French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Society Islands
The Society Islands ( , officially ; ) are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Mo'orea, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of France, overseas country of the France, French Republic. Geographically, they form part of Polynesia. Name The term ''Society Islands'' was first used by Captain James Cook when he visited the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands, a subgroup of six of the modern-day Society Islands, during his First voyage of James Cook, expedition to the south Pacific Ocean in 1769. It has been asserted that the name honors the Royal Society, the sponsor of his voyage, but this is disputed. Cook wrote in his journal: History Settlement The first Polynesians are understood to have arrived on these islands around 1000AD. Oral history origin The islanders explain their origins in terms of an oral tradition, orally transmitted sto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands ( officially ''Archipel des Australes;'' ) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France, overseas country of the France, French Republic in the Oceania, South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tupua'i islands () consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rūrutu, Tupua'i Island proper and Ra'ivāvae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands (French Polynesia), Bass Islands () composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri (Austral Islands), Marotiri (also known as Bass Rocks or Îlots de Bass). Inhabitants of the islands are known for their pandanus fiber weaving skills. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable for sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is 6,965 on almost . The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tupua'i. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoa Islands
The Samoan Islands () are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa and most of American Samoa (apart from Swains Island, which is geographically part of the Tokelau Islands). The land masses of the two Samoan jurisdictions are separated by of ocean at their closest points. The population of the Samoan Islands is approximately 250,000. The inhabitants have in common the Samoan language, a culture known as '' fa'a Samoa,'' and an indigenous form of governance called '' fa'amatai''. Samoans are one of the largest Polynesian populations in the world, and most are of exclusively Samoan ancestry. The oldest known evidence of human activity in the Samoan Islands dates to around 1050 BCE. It comes from a Lapita site at Mulifanua wharf on Upolu island. In 1768, the eastern islands were visited by the French explorer Bougain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcairn Island
Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other South Pacific islands, it is not surrounded by coral reefs that protect the coast. The only access to the island is via a small pier on Bounty Bay. Adamstown is the sole settlement. Pawala Valley Ridge is the island's highest point at above sea level. The volcanic soil and tropical climate with abundant rainfall make the soil productive. The average temperature ranges from . The annual rainfall is . Fauna Indigenous fauna consists of insects and lizards. Since their introduction, rats have become an invasive species. A large number of seabirds nest along the steep shorelines. As coral reefs are absent, fishing is offshore. Sharks, sea bream Sparidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
