Protecting the public and controlling another mosquito virus from spreading into the northeast and other parts of the U.S. is top of mind at “Upstate’s International Dengue Summit.
The three day conference held at Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families brings in panelists from all over the world at a time when dengue is very active, including here in the U.S.
“We do see a lot of patients that acquire dengue in their travels.
to Southeast Asia, South America, where we see a lot of sustained dengue transmission,” said Professor Adam Waickman.
He’s with Upstate Medical University's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and said they’ve seen several dengue cases in Syracuse patients who have returned to the U.S. from infected countries. , Although dengue has not transmitted from person to person, it has been discovered in mosquitos in Florida to Maryland and neighboring Southern Pennsylvania.
Dr. Engeong Ooi of Duke National University at Singapore Medical School said once Dengue invades a population, where there are other blood born pathogens in mosquito species, it is very hard to eradicate.
“We're not dealing with one virus,” he said, “we're dealing with four different viruses and they're transmitted by mosquitoes that are very well adapted to our urban environment.”
He said mosquitos tend to thrive wherever humans live. He warned, dengue can be deadly. Ooi said with up to 400 million people getting infected by dengue annually, it is more important than ever for scientists to come together at the Syracuse conference. Upstate Medical University scientists are currently researching ways to develop a possible vaccine. Upstate is a supporter of WAER.