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Background: The ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) du Québec (Québec's health authority) has expressed an interest in the development of an early warning tool to identify seasonal human outbreaks of West Nile virus infection in order to modulate public health interventions. The objective of this study was to determine if a user-friendly meteorological-based forecasting tool could be used to predict minimal infection rates for the Culex pipiens-restuans complex-a proxy of human risk-ahead of mosquito season., Methods: Annual minimal infection rate (number of positive pools/number of mosquitoes) was calculated for 856 mosquito traps set from 2003 to 2006 and 2013 to 2018 throughout the south of Québec's. Coefficient of determination (R 2 ) were estimated using the validation dataset (one third of the database by random selection) with generalized estimation equations, which were prior fitted backwards with polynomial terms using the training dataset (two thirds of the database), in order to minimize the Bayesian information criteria. Mean temperatures and precipitation were grouped at five temporal scales (by month, by season and by 4, 6 and 10-months groupings)., Results: Mean temperatures and cumulative precipitation from the previous months of March (R 2 =0.37), May (R 2 =0.36), December (R 2 =0.35) and the autumn season (R 2 =0.38) accounted for ~40% of Cx. pipiens-restuans annual minimal infection rates variations. Including the "year of sampling" variable in all regression models increased the predictive abilities (R 2 between 0.42 and 0.57)., Conclusion: All regression models explored have too weak predictive abilities to be useful as a public health tool. Other factors implicated in the epidemiology of the West Nile virus need to be incorporated in a meteorological-based early warning model for it to be useful to the provincial health authorities., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None.

Lyme disease (LD) is an emerging public health threat in Canada, associated with the northward range expansion of the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis). To address this, public health authorities have been carrying out surveillance activities and awareness campaigns targeting vulnerable populations such as outdoor workers. Implementing these measures is time-consuming and resource-intensive, prompting the assessment of alternatives. Our goal was to evaluate the feasibility and implementation of a training-of-trainers-inspired approach in raising awareness about LD risk and prevention among workers and general population, as well as to evaluate its potential to contribute to provincial LD surveillance efforts. We trained a group of workers from publicly-accessible outdoor parks of the province of Québec to become "LD education ambassadors". Ambassadors were trained to raise tick and LD awareness, share information on preventive measures in their respective communities, and lead tick sampling activities using a standardised protocol similar to that used by Public Health authorities. Ambassador-led outreach activities, public reach, sampling activities and collected ticks were documented, as well as ambassadors' satisfaction with the training using forms and semi-structured interviews. In total, 18 ambassadors from 12 organizations were trained. Between June and September 2019, they led 28 independent outreach activities, reaching over 1 860 individuals (from occupational and general public settings) in seven public health units. Ambassadors led 28 tick samplings, together collecting 11 I. scapularis ticks. This study suggests that an adapted training-of-trainers is a feasible approach to raising tick and LD risk awareness among Québec outdoor workers and public. Trained ambassadors have the potential of reaching a large portion of the population visiting or working in outdoor parks while also providing much-needed outreach regarding risk and prevention. Pushing this concept further to include other types of workers and jurisdictions may contribute to national LD surveillance efforts., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Current climatic conditions limit the distribution of Aedes ( Stegomyia ) albopictus (Skuse, Diptera: Culicidae) in the north, but predictive climate models suggest this species could establish itself in southern Canada by 2040. A vector of chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever, Zika and West Nile viruses, the Ae. Albopictus has been detected in Windsor, Ontario since 2016. Given the potential public health implications, and knowing that Aedes spp. can easily be introduced by ground transportation, this study aimed to determine if specimens could be detected, using an adequate methodology, in southern Québec. Mosquitoes were sampled in 2016 and 2017 along the main roads connecting Canada and the U.S., using Biogent traps (Sentinel-2, Gravide Aedes traps) and ovitraps. Overall, 24 mosquito spp. were captured, excluding Ae. Albopictus , but detecting one Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Skuse) specimen (laid eggs). The most frequent species among captured adults were Ochlerotatus triseriatus , Culex pipiens complex, and Ochlerotatus japonicus (31.0%, 26.0%, and 17.3%, respectively). The present study adds to the increasing number of studies reporting on the range expansions of these mosquito species, and suggests that ongoing monitoring, using multiple capture techniques targeting a wide range of species, may provide useful information to public health with respect to the growing risk of emerging mosquito-borne diseases in southern Canada.