Consumption of unpasteurised milk in the United States has presented a public health challenge for decades because of the increased risk of pathogen transmission causing illness outbreaks. We analysed Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System data to characterise unpasteurised milk outbreaks. Using Poisson and negative binomial regression, we compared the number of outbreaks and outbreak-associated illnesses between jurisdictions grouped by legal status of unpasteurised milk sale based on a May 2019 survey of state laws. During 2013–2018, 75 outbreaks with 675 illnesses occurred that were linked to unpasteurised milk; of these, 325 illnesses (48%) were among people aged 0–19 years. Of 74 single-state outbreaks, 58 (78%) occurred in states where the sale of unpasteurised milk was expressly allowed. Compared with jurisdictions where retail sales were prohibited (n = 24), those where sales were expressly allowed (n = 27) were estimated to have 3.2 (95% CI 1.4–7.6) times greater number of outbreaks; of these, jurisdictions where sale was allowed in retail stores (n = 14) had 3.6 (95% CI 1.3–9.6) times greater number of outbreaks compared with those where sale was allowed on-farm only (n = 13). This study supports findings of previously published reports indicating that state laws resulting in increased availability of unpasteurised milk are associated with more outbreak-associated illnesses and outbreaks.

Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis, is one of the most destructive pests of vegetables, fruits and ornamental crops worldwide, causing extensive damage by direct feeding of the crop and transmitting economically important viruses. Despite the successes of biocontrol agents to control WFT, more efficient and cost-effective ways must be found to encourage grower adoption of integrated pest management. A sustainable fungal treatment was developed to preserve fungal inoculum in potting soil and reduce thrips populations. Combining cooked, oven-dried millet with BotaniGard® (a commercial form of Beauveria bassiana strain GHA) to potting soil increased spore production and persistence of the fungus in the soil. In treated pots with millet, spore concentrations were 3–4 times greater after 30 days compared with spore yields at 10 days. The number of WFT adults was significantly lower in the marigold pots treated with GHA mix + millet than untreated controls, 12% and 10% in treated pots and 70% and 68% in untreated pots in sterile and non-sterile soil, respectively. Incorporation of millet in the potting mix enhanced the effect of the fungal treatments by providing a nutritive substrate on which the fungus could become established. This method is relatively inexpensive and easy for growers to use in greenhouses because granular formulations of B. bassiana are not commercially available.

Korscheltellus gracilis (Grote) is a pest of red spruce and balsam fir roots in the forests of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The larvae feed below ground on woody and non-woody plant tissues for 2 years before maturing. It was found at 18 localities across New England and Nova Scotia during the summers of 1987 and 1988. On Whiteface Mt., New York, and Mt. Moosilauke, New Hampshire, larvae were absent to uncommon at low (500 m) and high (1300 m) altitudes, but common to abundant in red spruce – balsam fir associations at 700, 900, and 1100 m. During September 1987, larval populations were estimated at 56 000 and 312 000 per hectare in soils at 900 m on Whiteface and Moosilauke, respectively. Dense populations occurred locally, e.g. 27 larvae were recovered from a single 0.25-m2 soil pit at 900 m on Moosilauke. By June 1988, larval numbers on Whiteface and Moosilauke had declined by 51% and 72%, respectively. Seedlings and mature trees of both spruce and fir were damaged by larval feeding on bark and cambium. Seedlings were girdled; mature trees had wounds paralleling the root axes.

Leaf samples were taken from crowns of sugar maple trees at selected vertical and horizontal positions and at each cardinal point. No significant differences in numbers of mines, cuts, or cases of Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch) were observed among the cardinal points of the crown. Most of the mines were found on leaves located near the base of the crown and close to the tree bole. Significantly more mines/leaf were found on samples 0.6 and 1.2 m from the bole than at 2.4 m and outward to the edge of the foliage. The highest number of cases/leaf was found 1.2 m from the bole. One and two months after the leaf-mining stage both case-bearing larvae and leaf damage were more prevalent from the bole outward to a distance of 3 m.

Insects cause serious problems during the storage of cassava chips, when quality may be reduced and significant quantities of the product consumed. The major species naturally infesting chips were Rhizopertha dominica, Lasioderma serricorne and Araecerus fasciculatus. Infestation occurs during the sun-drying process, and up to 16% reduction in chip weight due to insect feeding was recorded after 2 months storage. Chips that had not received any pre-drying storage, but contained salt as a preservative, were infested by fewer insects than chips without salt. The poorest quality chips had significantly more insects than better quality ones.

110 isolates of Beauveria (104 B. bassiana, 5 Beauveria spp., 1 B. brongniartii) were obtained from Sunn Pests (Eurygaster and Aelia species), litter, and other insect samples at overwintering sites in seven countries in the Middle East and West Asia. DNA was extracted from these isolates, and four techniques were used to characterize and to investigate genetic diversity at the molecular level: ITS-RFLP, ITS sequencing, ISSR-PCR, and AFLP. The ITS-RFLP and ITS sequences did not detect significant genetic variation among the isolates. However, both ISSR-PCR and AFLP analyses gave indications of intraspecific groupings correlated with geographical origin and relative genetic diversity among some isolates, but no obvious association with Sunn Pest hosts. There was no obvious genotypic grouping of B. bassiana isolates from E. integriceps, perhaps suggesting the overwintering populations were infected by generalist native isolates rather than by host-specific ones that might be more suitable for biocontrol purposes.

Isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, Paecilomyces farinosus (Holm ex SF Gray) Brown and Smith and Verticillium lecanii (Zimmermann) Viegas were evaluated for their pathogenicity to adults, eggs, first and third instars of silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolli (Bellows and Perring) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Conidial dilutions were prepared in 0.05% Tween® and leaves treated by immersion in these suspensions. Assessments of nymphal infection were made 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days post-treatment. Infection rates in adults and eggs were made 14 days post-treatment. All isolates were pathogenic to nymphs and adults. None of the isolates were pathogenic to eggs. Isolates L3444 (P. farinosus) and L3009 (B. bassiana) were the most pathogenic to first instars and adults with LC50 and LC90 values of 7.3 × 104 and 3.1 × 106 conidia/ml, and 1.3 × 106 and 1.0 × 107 conidia/ml, respectively. Isolate FR20 (V. lecanii) was the most pathogenic to third instars with LC50 and LC90 values of 4.8 × 103 and 7.4 × 105 conidia/ml, respectively. Results imply that L3444 and L3009 are the most efficient isolates, based on their pathogenicity to first instars and adults. Results are discussed in relation to using fungi for management of silverleaf whitefly in greenhouses.