Implementation of Baltimore City's COVID-19 Isolation Hotel

In May 2020, Baltimore City, Maryland, implemented the Lord Baltimore Triage, Respite, and Isolation Center (LBTC), a multiagency COVID-19 isolation and quarantine site tailored for people experiencing homelessness. In the first year, 2020 individuals were served, 78% completed isolation at LBTC, and 6% were transferred to a hospital. Successful isolation can mitigate outbreaks in shelters and residential recovery programs, and planning for sustainable isolation services integrated within these settings is critical as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print April 21, 2022: e1-e5. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306778).

A survey of trace metal burdens in increment cores from eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides) across a childhood cancer cluster, Sandusky County, OH, USA

A dendrochemical study of cottonwood trees (Populus deltoides) was conducted across a childhood cancer cluster in eastern Sandusky County (Ohio, USA). The justification for this study was that no satisfactory explanation has yet been put forward, despite extensive local surveys of aerosols, groundwater, and soil. Concentrations of eight trace metals were measured by ICP-MS in microwave-digested 5-year sections of increment cores, collected during 2012 and 2013. To determine whether the onset of the first cancer cases could be connected to an emergence of any of these contaminants, cores spanning the period 1970-2009 were taken from 51 trees of similar age, inside the cluster and in a control area to the west. The abundance of metals in cottonwood tree annual rings served as a proxy for their long-term, low-level accumulation from the same sources whereby exposure of the children may have occurred. A spatial analysis of cumulative metal burdens (lifetime accumulation in the tree) was performed to search for significant 'hotspots', employing a scan statistic with a mask of variable radius and center. For Cd, Cr, and Ni, circular hotspots were found that nearly coincide with the cancer cluster and are similar in size. No hotspots were found for Co, Cu, and Pb, while As and V were largely below method detection limits. Whereas our results do not implicate exposure to metals as a causative factor, we conclude that, after 1970, cottonwood trees have accumulated more Cd, Cr, and Ni, inside the childhood cancer cluster than elsewhere in Sandusky County.

Attraction of Culex pipiens to uropygial gland secretions does not explain feeding preference for American robins

Culex pipiens, the endemic mosquito vector of West Nile virus in eastern North America, is responsible for maintenance of the virus in avian reservoir hosts, the most important of which appears to be the American robin. One reason for the greater involvement of robins is believed to be the feeding preference of Cx. pipiens, however, the basis of this preference is not understood. We tested the hypothesis that the species-specific chemical profile of avian uropygial gland secretions are used by Cx. pipiens as cues to locate birds and, therefore, may contribute to the observed feeding preferences. We used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the semi-volatile components of the uropygial gland secretions of American robins and two other common reservoir host species, the house sparrow and European starling. We found that the chemical composition of the robin secretions was different from those of the sparrows and starlings. Through behavioral choice trials conducted in a dual-port olfactometer, we also found that Cx. pipiens did not prefer the secretions of robins over the other two species. Surprisingly, however, we found that Cx pipiens were more often attracted to live starlings over robins and to the secretions of starlings over those of robins.