Quarantine Monitoring Research Articles

Characteristics of swiftlet houses on the plains and hills and their contribution to regional development for export development. Case study: Banten Province, Indonesia

Swiftlet bird nests (SBN) have a high selling value for export because they are beneficial for health treatment and are a food ingredient. The sustainability of SBN exports is influenced by the quality of SBN production in swiftlet houses. Banten Province is a producer and supplier of SBN for export and local markets because the SBN produced here is good quality. This study aims to analyze 1) the characteristics of swiftlet houses on plains and hills and 2) the contribution of swiftlet houses to regional development. This study uses a qualitative method with a comparative case study approach. The results showed that 1) There were differences in the characteristics of swiftlet houses located on the plains and hills, namely the geographic location, agro climate, swiftlet house design, food vegetation, and SBN quality; 2) Swiftlet houses contribute to regional development as an opportunity for business and employment in managing swiftlet houses and SBN, as well as SBN quarantine monitoring for export. SBN production is higher in swiftlet houses with suitable habitat and environmental conditions. To increase the sustainability of SBN production, the government and business actors collaborate to preserve the environment and maintain the sustainability of swiftlet houses.

A multiplex direct PCR method for the rapid and accurate discrimination of three species of spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) in fruit orchards in Beijing.

Spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) are polyphagous pests of economic importance in agriculture, among which the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch has spread widely worldwide as an invasive species, posing a serious threat to fruit tree production in China, including Beijing. The hawthorn spider mite, Amphitetranychus viennensis Zacher, is also a worldwide pest of fruit trees and woody ornamental plants. The cassava mite, Tetranychus truncatus Ehara, is mainly found in Asian countries, including China, Korea and Japan, and mainly affects fruit trees and agricultural crops. These three species of spider mites are widespread and serious fruit tree pests in Beijing. Rapid and accurate identification of spider mites is essential for effective pest and plant quarantine in Beijing orchard fields. The identification of spider mite species is difficult due to their limited morphological characteristics. Although the identification of insect and mite species based on PCR and real-time polymerase chain reaction TaqMan is becoming increasingly common, DNA extraction is difficult, expensive and time-consuming due to the minute size of spider mites. Therefore, the objective of this study was to establish a direct multiplex PCR method for the simultaneous identification of three common species of spider mites in orchards, A. viennensis, T. truncatus and T. urticae, to provide technical support for the differentiation of spider mite species and phytosanitary measures in orchards in Beijing. Based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) of the two-spotted spider mite and the cassava mite and the 18S gene sequence of the hawthorn spider mite as the amplification target, three pairs of specific primers were designed, and the primer concentrations were optimized to establish a direct multiplex PCR system for the rapid and accurate discrimination of the three spider mites without the need for DNA extraction and purification. The method showed a high sensitivity of 0.047ng for T. truncatus and T. urticae DNA and 0.0002ng for A. viennensis. This method eliminates the DNA extraction and sequencing procedures of spider mite samples, offers a possibility for rapid monitoring of multiple spider mites in an integrated microarray laboratory system, reducing the time and cost of leaf mite identification and quarantine monitoring in the field.

Technical Analysis of Contact Tracing Platform Developed by Google–Apple for Constraining the Spread of COVID-19

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, technical solutions (e.g., smartphone apps, web-based platforms, digital surveillance platforms, etc.) have played a vital role in constraining the spread of COVID-19. The major aspects in which technical solutions have helped the general public (or health officials) are contact tracing, spread prediction, trend forecasting, infection risk estimation, hotspot identification, alerting people to stay away from contaminated places, hospitalization length estimation, clinical severity analysis, and quarantine monitoring, to name a few. Apart from other services, contact tracing has been extensively performed with the help of Bluetooth and GPS-powered smartphone applications when vaccines were unavailable. In this article, we technically analyze the contact tracing platform developed by Google–Apple for constraining the spread of COVID-19. We suggest unexplored technical functionalities that can further strengthen the platform from privacy preservation, service scenarios, and robustness point of view. Lastly, some AI-based and privacy-assured services that can be integrated with the platform to control the pandemic adequately are suggested. The technical analysis demonstrates that while the Google–Apple platform is well-engineered, it is not free of vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and misconfigurations that may lead to its poor adoption in real-life scenarios. This work can serve as a guideline for further enhancing the practicality of contact tracing platform to effectively handle future infectious diseases.

Improving Healthcare with a world perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe issues, including loss of quality of life, negative economic impacts and, most of all, exposed weaknesses in health systems.
 A major weakness was the inability to respond to population needs during a pandemic, especially vulnerable groups, as well as supporting the impacts on mental health and increase in poverty,
 Research on how to redistribute high-quality healthcare to develop early diagnosis and treatment will be most welcome.
 Also, new evidence on how to strengthen primary healthcare for the elderly, especially those with chronic diseases and those at risk of severe complications.
 Efforts should be made to strengthen evidence on infection control and support and protect critical care workers and healthcare workers on the front lines of emergency, as well as on how to improve the training of human resources at the grassroots and the use of diagnostics technology at local level.
 Evidence on successful processes of upgrading health data systems and the usage of digital data, smartphone applications for quarantine monitoring, robotic devices, and artificial intelligence to track the origin and spread of infections. spread and spread of the virus, should also be welcome..
 Finally, we should appeal for further evidence on improving the effectiveness of vaccination and promote access to international cooperation, avoid barriers to the intellectual property transfer and intellectual property and approach multilateral licensing commitments,.
 The Covid - 19 pandemic has brought great lessons and it is a lever for a profound change in the way we develop healthcare learning from a shared world perspective. In short, we should support the process of generating evidence on innovation for global healthcare improvements.

Recombination between SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants identified in a traveller from Nepal at the airport quarantine facility in Japan.

We have detected novel SARS-CoV-2 variants at the airport quarantine facility in Japan. This study revealed novel Omicron recombinant in a traveller visiting from Nepal, suggesting a possibility of its further dissemination in surrounding countries with limited sequencing capacity. Quarantine monitoring could aid timely response to avoid global dissemination.

SIMONIC: IoT Based Quarantine Monitoring System for Covid-19

COVID-19, which has become a global pandemic since March 2020, has tremendously affected human life globally. The negative impact of COVID-19 affects societies in almost all aspects. Implementing quarantine monitoring, also social distancing, and contact tracing are a series of processes that can suppress the new infected COVID-19 cases in various countries. Prior works have proposed different monitoring systems to assist the monitoring of individuals in quarantines, as well as many methods are offered for social distancing and contact tracing. These methods focus on one function to provide a reliable system. In this paper, we propose IoT-based quarantine monitoring by implementing a geofence equipped with social distancing features to offer an integrated system that provides more benefits than one system carrying one particular function. We propose a system consisting of a low cost, low complexity, and reusable wristband design and mobile apps to support the quarantine monitoring system. For the geofencing, we propose a GPS-based geofence system that was developed by taking advantage of the convenience offered by the Traccar application. Meanwhile, we add the notification for social distancing feature with adaptive distance measurement RSSI-based set up in the android application. Based on the experiment we did to validate the system, in terms of wristband-to-smartphone communication, scanning interval in smartphone and advertising interval in wristband is best to set in 7 s for both. For social distancing notification and geofence, we measure the system performance through precision, recall, accuracy, and F-measure.

Mobile Apps Leveraged in the COVID-19 Pandemic in East and South-East Asia: Review and Content Analysis.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic increased attention to digital tools to support governmental public health policies in East and South-East Asia. Mobile apps related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to emerge and evolve with a wide variety of characteristics and functions. However, there is a paucity of studies evaluating such apps in this region, with most of the available studies conducted in the early days of the pandemic.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine free apps developed or supported by governments in the East and South-East Asian region and highlight their key characteristics and functions. We also sought to interpret how the release dates of these apps were related to the commencement dates of other COVID-19 public health policies.MethodsWe systematically searched for apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and analyzed the contents of eligible apps. Mobile apps released or updated with COVID-19–related functions between March 1 and May 7, 2021, in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China (mainland), Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines were included. The CoronaNet Research Project database was also examined to determine the timeline of public health policy commencement dates in relation to the release dates of the included apps. We assessed each app’s official website, media reports, and literature through content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize relevant information gathered from the mobile apps using RStudio.ResultsOf the 1943 mobile apps initially identified, 46 were eligible, with almost 70% of the apps being intended for the general public. Most apps were from Vietnam (n=9, 20%), followed by Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand (n=6 each, 13%). Of note, most apps for quarantine monitoring (n=6, 13%) were mandatory for the target users or a population subset. The most common function was health monitoring (32/46, 70%), followed by raising public health awareness (19/46, 41%) through education and information dissemination. Other functions included monitoring quarantine (12/46, 26%), providing health resources (12/46, 26%). COVID-19 vaccination management functions began to appear in parallel with vaccine rollout (7/46, 15%). Regarding the timing of the introduction of mobile solutions, the majority of mobile apps emerged close to the commencement dates of other public health policies in the early stages of the pandemic between March and April 2020.ConclusionsIn East and South-East Asia, most governments used mobile health apps as adjuncts to public health measures for tracking COVID-19 cases and delivering credible information. In addition, these apps have evolved by expanding their functions for COVID-19 vaccination.

Blockchain Quarantine Monitoring System for the Control of Covid-19 Pandemic

Objective: After the emergence of the new type of coronavirus (COVID-19) as a viral respiratory disease, it has started to increase rapidly and steadily all over the world. Several studies are carried out in different areas all over the world in order to control and effectively treat the disease. However, it seems that the most appropriate way to manage the pandemic is to prevent the transmission. In many different countries and Turkey the spread of the covid-19 pandemic is being taken under control with innovative digital tecnologies. In this study, we tested whether the blockchain application can be used in the successful execution of quarantine processes in order to support the controlled progress of the COVID-19 pandemic process. Method: In this study, a unique control system called Blockchain Quarantine Monitoring System is proposed to monitor a quarantined closed area. The study is based on the problem scenario related to the isolation of the predicted quarantine patient. Results: The proposed model started with placing a quarantine control system at the entrance of the closed area where quarantine is applied. As the last step, the Quarantine Monitoring System web software was developed so that the quarantine monitoring system can work in all areas where the internet is available, regardless of location. Conclusions: The modeling suggested in our study showed that; Block chain application is a useful method for the effectiveness of quarantine, which is the main factor that can reduce the spread of pandemics. Keywords: COVID-19, blockchain, pandemic, quarantine. Special Issue of Health Sciences DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/7-08-01

Health-Related Information and COVID-19: A Study of Sri Lanka and Thailand

In this research, we focus on the COVID-19 pandemic in two emerging Asia Pacific nations, Sri Lanka and Thailand, in particular on contact tracing and quarantine monitoring and enforcement. We found that both countries relied heavily on contact tracing by leveraging extensive public health networks. The information flows are described in the report. Especially in Sri Lanka, the police and the armed forces were also heavily involved in contact tracing and quarantine monitoring and enforcement. Digital solutions for contact tracing have also been introduced in both countries, and while there have been benefits, there have also been drawbacks, including challenges related to cybersecurity and data governance. Responders also made extensive use of ICTs, including Microsoft Excel to create databases, as well as social media platforms such as WhatsApp and LINE to coordinate responses and report data.Furthermore, we found that one of the challenges to disease surveillance was not just due to reluctance to disclose to authorities themselves, but the fear of lateral surveillance and stigmatization by neighbors and acquaintances and exposure of their COVID – positive status in the media. Hence, balancing the need for data collection with the need to protect personally identifiable information was a challenge. We end by offering recommendations on areas that can be improved. We hope that these findings will be useful to policymakers and health officials in combating future pandemics.

Towards Privacy Paradigm Shift Due to the Pandemic: A Brief Perspective

With the advent of the pandemic (e.g., novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19)), a tremendous amount of data about individuals are collected by the health authorities on daily basis for curbing the disease’s spread. The individuals’ data collection/processing at a massive scale for community well-being with the help of digital solutions (e.g., mobile apps for mobility and proximity analysis, contact tracing through credit card usage history, facial recognition through cameras, and crowd analysis using cellular networks data etc.) raise several privacy concerns. Furthermore, the privacy concerns that are arising mainly due to the fine-grained data collection has hindered the response to tackle this pandemic in many countries. Hence, acquiring/handling individuals data with privacy protection has become a vibrant area of research in these pandemic times. This paper explains the shift in privacy paradigm due to the pandemic (e.g., COVID-19) which involves more and detailed data collection about individuals including locations and demographics. We explain technical factors due to which the people’s privacy is at higher risk in the COVID-19 time. In addition, we discuss privacy concerns in different epidemic control measures (ECMs) (e.g., contact tracing, quarantine monitoring, and symptoms reporting etc.) employed by the health authorities to tackle this disease. Further, we provide an insight on the data management in the ECMs with privacy protection. Finally, the future prospects of the research in this area tacking into account the emerging technologies are discussed. Through this brief article, we aim to provide insights about the vulnerability to user’s privacy in pandemic times, likely privacy issues in different ECMs adopted by most countries around the world, how to preserve user’s privacy effectively in all phases of the ECMs considering relevant data in loop, and conceptual foundations of ECMs to fight with future pandemics in a privacy preserving manner.

Countrywide population movement monitoring using mobile devices generated (big) data during the COVID-19 crisis

Mobile phones have been used to monitor mobility changes during the COVID-19 pandemic but surprisingly few studies addressed in detail the implementation of practical applications involving whole populations. We report a method of generating a “mobility-index” and a “stay-at-home/resting-index” based on aggregated anonymous Call Detail Records of almost all subscribers in Hungary, which tracks all phones, examining their strengths and weaknesses, comparing it with Community Mobility Reports from Google, limited to smartphone data. The impact of policy changes, such as school closures, could be identified with sufficient granularity to capture a rush to shops prior to imposition of restrictions. Anecdotal reports of large scale movement of Hungarians to holiday homes were confirmed. At the national level, our results correlated well with Google mobility data, but there were some differences at weekends and national holidays, which can be explained by methodological differences. Mobile phones offer a means to analyse population movement but there are several technical and privacy issues. Overcoming these, our method is a practical and inexpensive way forward, achieving high levels of accuracy and resolution, especially where uptake of smartphones is modest, although it is not an alternative to smartphone-based solutions used for contact tracing and quarantine monitoring.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Privacy Protection Techniques Developed for COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the emergence of coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, every country has implemented digital solutions in the form of mobile applications, web-based frameworks, and/or integrated platforms in which huge amounts of personal data are collected for various purposes (e.g., contact tracing, suspect search, and quarantine monitoring). These systems not only collect basic data about individuals but, in most cases, very sensitive data like their movements, spatio-temporal activities, travel history, visits to churches/clubs, purchases, and social interactions. While collection and utilization of person-specific data in different contexts is essential to limiting the spread of COVID-19, it increases the chances of privacy breaches and personal data misuse. Recently, many privacy protection techniques (PPTs) have been proposed based on the person-specific data included in different data types (e.g., tables, graphs, matrixes, barcodes, and geospatial data), and epidemic containment strategies (ECSs) (contact tracing, quarantine monitoring, symptom reports, etc.) in order to minimize privacy breaches and to permit only the intended uses of such personal data. In this paper, we present an extensive review of the PPTs that have been recently proposed to address the diverse privacy requirements/concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe the heterogeneous types of data collected to control this pandemic, and the corresponding PPTs, as well as the paradigm shifts in personal data handling brought on by this pandemic. We systemically map the recently proposed PPTs into various ECSs and data lifecycle phases, and present an in-depth review of existing PPTs and evaluation metrics employed for analysis of their suitability. We describe various PPTs developed during the COVID-19 period that leverage emerging technologies, such as federated learning, blockchain, privacy by design, and swarm learning, to name a few. Furthermore, we discuss the challenges of preserving individual privacy during a pandemic, the role of privacy regulations/laws, and promising future research directions. With this article, our aim is to highlight the recent PPTs that have been specifically proposed for the COVID-19 arena, and point out research gaps for future developments in this regard.

IoT Platform for COVID-19 Prevention and Control: A Survey.

As a result of the worldwide transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved into an unprecedented pandemic. Currently, with unavailable pharmaceutical treatments and low vaccination rates, this novel coronavirus results in a great impact on public health, human society, and global economy, which is likely to last for many years. One of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that a long-term system with non-pharmaceutical interventions for preventing and controlling new infectious diseases is desirable to be implemented. Internet of things (IoT) platform is preferred to be utilized to achieve this goal, due to its ubiquitous sensing ability and seamless connectivity. IoT technology is changing our lives through smart healthcare, smart home, and smart city, which aims to build a more convenient and intelligent community. This paper presents how the IoT could be incorporated into the epidemic prevention and control system. Specifically, we demonstrate a potential fog-cloud combined IoT platform that can be used in the systematic and intelligent COVID-19 prevention and control, which involves five interventions including COVID-19 Symptom Diagnosis, Quarantine Monitoring, Contact Tracing & Social Distancing, COVID-19 Outbreak Forecasting, and SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Tracking. We investigate and review the state-of-the-art literatures of these five interventions to present the capabilities of IoT in countering against the current COVID-19 pandemic or future infectious disease epidemics.

THE STUDYING OF DYNAMICS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOLDEN POTATO NEMATODES IN UKRAINE AND SEPARATE FACTORS ITS REGULATION

In recent years, the main sowing areas of potatoes have moved from collective farms to the private sector, which makes it difficult to detect nematodes and establish their level of harmfulness in different regions of Ukraine. The cultivation of potatoes in monoculture for many years, the unpredictability of the existing seed system of regular maintenance of individual farms with healthy planting material, the lack of knowledge about the protection of plants against nematodes, contribute to the spread of globoderosis in new territories. Research strategy to protect the potato crop from nematodes should be aimed at a low-energy and environmentally friendly system based on the use of nematodes, the correct application of crop rotation crops, the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers, the quality of planting material, since chemical hazards protect the environment. The outstanding issues in terms of regulating the abundance of golden potato nematodes remain the factors of the agrochemical properties of soils and their relationship with the pest size, aspects of the use of different potato precursors in terms of influencing the prevalence of the nematode, and estimating the monitoring status of its comparative numbers. The article summarizes the results of quarantine monitoring of the distribution of the golden potato nematode (Globodera rostochiensis Woll) in Ukraine and by region. A comparison of the pest prevalence rate over ten years of quarantine monitoring has been conducted and conclusions have been made regarding their success at the regional level. The phenological development of the pest is specified taking into account the climatological features of the Vinnitsa region. A review of the features of biology and the pest development cycle is made on the basis of which briefly described signs of potato damage in the field. On the basis of field studies, the effectiveness of the control of the potato nematode was evaluated by introducing crop rotation and selecting the appropriate alternation of different plants. The effectiveness of the use of potato varieties resistant to the nematode was assessed, and the level of their productivity against an infectious background was determined in comparison with the variety unstable to the pest. Conclusions have been made in the main areas of restricting the spread of the potato nematode in the private sector of potato cultivation in permanent crops. Key words: golden potato nematode, yield, varieties, crop rotation, prevalence.

An overview of mobile applications (apps) to support the coronavirus disease 2019 response in India

Background & objectives:The potential benefits of mobile health (mHealth) initiatives to manage the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been explored. The Government of India, State governments, and healthcare organizations have developed various mobile apps for the containment of COVID-19. This study was aimed to systematically review COVID-19 related mobile apps and highlight gaps to inform the development of future mHealth initiatives.Methods:Google Play and the Apple app stores were searched using the terms 'COVID-19', 'coronavirus', 'pandemic', and 'epidemic' in the first week of April 2020. A list of COVID-19-specific functions was compiled based on the review of the selected apps, the literature on epidemic surveillance, and national and international media reports. The World Health Organization guideline on Digital Health Interventions was used to classify the app functions under the categories of the general public, health workers, health system managers, and data services.Results:The search yielded 346 potential COVID-19 apps, of which 50 met the inclusion criteria. Dissemination of untargeted COVID-19-related information on preventative strategies and monitoring the movements of quarantined individuals was the function of 27 (54%) and 19 (32%) apps, respectively. Eight (16%) apps had a contact tracing and hotspot identification function.Interpretation & conclusions:Our study highlights the current emphasis on the development of self-testing, quarantine monitoring, and contact tracing apps. India's response to COVID-19 can be strengthened by developing comprehensive mHealth solutions for frontline healthcare workers, rapid response teams and public health authorities. Among this unprecedented global health emergency, the Governments must ensure the necessary but least intrusive measures for disease surveillance.

A conserved motif within cox 2 allows broad detection of economically important fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The genera Anastrepha, Bactrocera, Ceratitis, Dacus and Rhagoletis in the family Tephritidae order Diptera are economically important, worldwide distributed and cause damage to a large number of commercially produced fruits and vegetables. China had regulated these five genera as quarantine pests, including the species Carpomya vesuviana. An accurate molecular method not depending on morphology able to detect all the quarantine fruit flies simultaneously is required for quarantine monitoring. This study contributes a comparative analysis of 146 mitochondrial genomes of Diptera species and found variable sites at the mt DNA cox2 gene only conserved in economically important fruit flies species. Degenerate primers (TephFdeg/TephR) were designed specific for the economically important fruit flies. A 603 bp fragment was amplified after testing each of the 40 selected representative species belonging to each economically important Tephritid genera, no diagnostic fragments were detected/amplified in any of the other Tephritidae and Diptera species examined. PCR sensitivity assays demonstrated the limit of detection of targeted DNA was 0.1 ng/μl. This work contributes an innovative approach for detecting all reported economically important fruit flies in a single-step PCR specific for reported fruit fly species of quarantine concern in China.

Responses of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) to new attractants in Papua New Guinea

AbstractMale fruit fly attractants – cue‐lure and methyl eugenol (ME) – have been used successfully for decades in the monitoring and control of species of Dacini (Dacinae) fruit flies (Bactrocera, Zeugodacus and Dacus). However, many species, including several pests, are non‐responsive to these lures. Field tests of new compounds are therefore worthwhile, particularly in areas of high species diversity where multiple species attractions can provide additional information on lure function. Recent field tests of new male attractants (isoeugenol, dihydroeugenol, methyl‐isoeugenol and zingerone) and food‐ and host‐based lures (cucumber volatile blend and Cera Trap®) in Australia resulted in discoveries of lure responses for ‘non‐responsive’ species. In this study, these new lures were field tested for the first time in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for attractiveness to ‘non‐responsive’ species, including the guava pest Bactrocera obliqua and cucurbit pests Zeugodacus atrisetosus and Z. decipiens. Testing was conducted in the National Capital District (NCD) and Kerevat on the island province of East New Britain. Of the ‘non‐responsive’ pest species, B. obliqua was trapped three times at isoeugenol and once at methyl‐isoeugenol. This is the first record of B. obliqua responding to male lures. Zeugodacus decipiens was significantly attracted to Cera Trap. Five undescribed species responded to zingerone and one to the eugenol analogues. The ME‐responsive B. musae and B. umbrosa responded differently to the three eugenol analogues in Kerevat and NCD, with both species responding more strongly to methyl‐isoeugenol in NCD, although their response to ME was similar in both locations. Intraspecific differences in lure response were also noted between this study and that recorded previously in other countries. The cue‐responsive B. frauenfeldi, B. neohumeralis and Dacus axanus were previously trapped at zingerone in Australia, and the ME‐responsive B. dorsalis was trapped at zingerone in Malaysia, but these species, while caught at their respective lures, were not recorded at zingerone in this study. The findings from this study have implications for quarantine monitoring for the ‘non‐responsive’ B. obliqua and Z. decipiens in Australia, highlight that there may be intraspecific variation in male lure response and provide further information on these novel male lures' activity.

Biosecuring India against exotic bruchids: two decades of quarantine monitoring of grain legumes germplasm

The quarantine of 36,500 germplasm samples of various grain legumes with seed as a pathway imported into India during 1996–2015 was undertaken at ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. As these plant genera are known to carry hidden infestation, seeds were screened through soft X-rays and bruchids infestation (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) was detected in 3175 samples (8.69% infestation). The quarantine measures resulted in interception of 25 bruchids on 40 hosts from over 40 sources/countries. Of the interceptions, 13 bruchids are not reported from India. These are Acanthoscelides obtectus in Cajanus cajan from CIAT (Columbia), Brazil, Italy, Nigeria; in Phaseolus vulgaris from Columbia, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Slovakia and USA; Vigna subterranea from CIAT (Columbia) and in Vicia faba from ICARDA (Syria), Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Spain, USA; Bruchidius atrolineatus in V. mungo from Srilanka; in Vigna radiata and V. unguiculata from Italy, Nigeria, UK; B. murinus in V. faba from UK; Bruchus affinis in Lathyrus spp., from USA; B.atomarius in Vicia gathrnensis and B. dentipes in V. faba from ICARDA (Syria) in V. narbonensis from Afghanistan; B. ervi in Lathyrus sativus from Lebanon, Syria; in Lens spp., from several countries; B. rufimanus in V. faba from Afghanistan; B. tristiculus in Lens sp., and B. tristis in L. sativus from ICARDA (Syria); Callosobruchus rhodesianus in V. unguiculata from Nigeria and C. subinnotatus in V. subterranea from Ghana; Specularius erythreus in Cajanus cajan and Vigna radiata from Italy.

Identification of a Male-Produced Aggregation Pheromone for <I>Monochamus scutellatus scutellatus</I> and an Attractant for the Congener <I>Monochamus notatus</I> (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

We report identification and field testing of 2-(undecyloxy)-ethanol (monochamol) as a sex-specific, aggregation pheromone component produced by males of Monochamus scutellatus scutellatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), a longhorned beetle native to North America. A congener, Monochamus notatus (Drury), which uses the same hosts as M. s. scutellatus, also was attracted to this compound in field trials, suggesting it may be a pheromone component for this species as well. Panel traps were deployed along transects at each of five field sites in May 2010 to test attraction of native beetle species to a suite of cerambycid pheromone components, including monochamol, 3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, (2R*,3R*)- and (2R*, 3S*)-2,3-hexanediol, racemic (E/Z)-fuscumol, and (E/Z)-fuscumol acetate. In total, 209 adult M. s. scutellatus (136 females, 73 males) and 20 M. notatus (16 females, four males) were captured, of which 86 and 70%, respectively, were captured in traps baited with monochamol (means significantly different). Analysis of headspace volatiles from adult M. s. scutellatus by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-electroantennogram detection confirmed that monochamol was produced only by males. Monochamol was not found in headspace extracts from adult M. notatus. This study provides further evidence that monochamol is a pheromone component common to several species in the genus Monochamus. The pheromone component should prove useful for monitoring native species for management purposes or conservation efforts, and for quarantine monitoring for exotic species.