Tootfinder

This is an interesting tidbit of information from Henry.
"“The global hypothesis is that the infection, the exposure to the rat feces, or whatever in the dry area that they were in, happened before they arrived on the cruise ship,” she said. “It was a couple from the Netherlands. So then they both became ill, whether they both had the initial exposure, or whether the wife was exposed to her husband once he became ill.””
Specifically: ”the dry area”
Reports are that it was a bird watching expedition to a landfill that is the primary suspect for the source of the exposure. Which, in my mind, means the hantavirus can spread through contact with dirt either on the bottom of a shoe, or on particles in the wind in a dry dusty environment.
That doesn't quite give me confidence that it is not “airborne”... but… ok.
Dr. Henry: #Hantavirus #COVIDisAirborne #Argentina #disease #cruise

Need a tick identified? Send dorsal and ventral pics to The Tick Lab of Pennsylvania, and they'll email you back with an answer. #tick #ticks #disease #health https://www.ticklab.org/identify-my-tick

Article on some of the important tick species in the United States, with a reminder that they sometimes harbor more than one disease. So even if you test positive for Lyme you might also have an undiagnosed, second illness. [gift link] #ticks #disease #nature #lyme #alphagal #health #ixodidae https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/02/well/live/tick-bites-diseases-symptoms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gVA.4XTu.Gu4hPsw1SpEv&smid=url-share

The Tick Lab of Pennsylvania offers free testing to residents of the Commonwealth. You can send up to five ticks taken off the host (person or pet). #pennsylvania #ticks #lyme #disease #health #outdoors #hiking https://www.ticklab.org/test-my-tick

White-dotted mosquito (Culex restuans) that I reared from an egg raft. The scales that form the white dots on the scutum can fall off over time but in a newly-eclosed adult like this an ID is pretty easy. They feed almost exclusively on birds, but sometimes on mammals and thus are one route for transmission of West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis. I think that because of their fondness for birds they are largely up in the tree canopy and thus whole-yard (i.e., ground-level) fogging with pyrethroids is totally ineffective. #virus #wnv #disease #mosquitoes #culex #birds #nature #inaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/359353002