These results provide a model of an ectoparasite-induced specific IgE response that can increase total serum IgE without creating a risk for asthma, and further evidence that the main allergens that are causally related to asthma are those that are inhaled.

A novel form of anaphylaxis and urticaria that occurs 3 to 6 hours after eating mammalian meat is not uncommon among children in our area. Identification of these cases may not be straightforward and diagnosis is best confirmed by specific testing, which should certainly be considered for children living in the area where the Lone Star tick is common.

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Citrus greening (Huanglongbing, HLB) is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide. In South Asia HLB has been known for more than a century, while in Americas the disease was found relatively recently. HLB is associated with three species of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ among which ‘Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas) has most wide distribution. Recently, a number of studies identified different regions in the CLas genome with variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) that could be used for examination of CLas diversity. One of the objectives of the work presented here was to further validate the VNTR analysis-based approach by assessing the stability of these repeats upon multiplication of the pathogen in a host over an extended period of time and upon its passaging from a host to a host using CLas populations from Florida. Our results showed that the numbers of tandem repeats in the four loci tested display very distinguishable “signature profiles” for the two Florida-type CLas haplotype groups. Remarkably, the profiles do not change upon passage of the pathogen in citrus and psyllid hosts as well as after its presence within a host over a period of five years, suggesting that VNTR analysis-based approach represents a valid methodology for examination of the pathogen populations in various geographical regions. Interestingly, an extended analysis of CLas populations in different locations throughout Florida and in several countries in the Caribbean and Central America regions and in Mexico where the pathogen has been introduced recently demonstrated the dispersion of the same haplotypes of CLas. On the other hand, these CLas populations appeared to differ significantly from those obtained from locations where the disease has been present for a much longer time.