Search results for "Outbreak"
showing 10 items of 812 documents
Experimental Infection of Voles with Francisella tularensis Indicates Their Amplification Role in Tularemia Outbreaks
2014
Tularemia outbreaks in humans have been linked to fluctuations in rodent population density, but the mode of bacterial maintenance in nature is unclear. Here we report on an experiment to investigate the pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis infection in wild rodents, and thereby assess their potential to spread the bacterium. We infected 20 field voles (Microtus agrestis) and 12 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) with a strain of F. tularensis ssp. holarctica isolated from a human patient. Upon euthanasia or death, voles were necropsied and specimens collected for histological assessment and identification of bacteria by immunohistology and PCR. Bacterial excretion and a rapid lethal clinical …
Virus diversity in a winter epidemic of acute diarrhea in France.
2002
ABSTRACT In France, an epidemic peak of acute diarrhea is observed each winter. Previous results suggested a viral etiology for these winter epidemics. We investigated the role of enteric viruses in acute diarrhea and their molecular diversity. One hundred sixty-one patients with acute diarrhea and 45 healthy patients (controls) from the general population were given a standardized questionnaire between December 1998 and May 1999. Stool specimens were screened for group A and C rotaviruses, human caliciviruses, astroviruses, and adenovirus types 40 and 41 by reverse transcription-PCR and/or enzyme immunoassay. Virologic analysis was positive for 63 cases (39%). Caliciviruses and group A rot…
Outside-host phage therapy as a biological control against environmental infectious diseases
2018
Background Environmentally growing pathogens present an increasing threat for human health, wildlife and food production. Treating the hosts with antibiotics or parasitic bacteriophages fail to eliminate diseases that grow also in the outside-host environment. However, bacteriophages could be utilized to suppress the pathogen population sizes in the outside-host environment in order to prevent disease outbreaks. Here, we introduce a novel epidemiological model to assess how the phage infections of the bacterial pathogens affect epidemiological dynamics of the environmentally growing pathogens. We assess whether the phage therapy in the outside-host environment could be utilized as a biologi…
A food borne outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Brandenburg as a hint to compare human, animal and food isolates identified in the years 2005-2…
2011
Introduction. There are only a few reported cases of Salmonella enterica serotype Brandenburg foodborne outbreaks in the literature. In Italy Brandenburg is consistently present among the top-ten serotypes from human source, but at low prevalences. Methods. Fifty-five S. Brandenburg isolates from human, animal, environmental and food sources, including twelve isolates from a foodborne outbreak, were genotyped by PFGE. Results and Discussion. Eight pulsogroups and 19 pulsotypes were detected, with a unique pulsotype being attributed to the outbreak strains. Molecular subtyping can reliably complement the epidemiological investigations. Moreover, mapping molecular types of Salmonella isolates…
Outbreak of Salmonella enteritis bongori 48:z35:- in Sicily.
2003
Salmonella bongori 48:z 35 :- was first isolated from a lizard in Chad in 1966 and was classified as a biochemically atypical strain of the subgenus I of Kauffmann. Successively, some additional strains with different antigenic formulas but similar bioche
Quantitative detection of viable foodborne E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella in fresh-cut vegetables combining propidium monoazi…
2012
Abstract The increase of foodborne outbreaks associated with fresh vegetables has highlighted the importance of developing rapid and specific methods for the detection and quantification of foodborne pathogens. In this sense, real-time PCR (qPCR) fulfills these requirements although it may detect dead cells. Recently, a potential strategy to specifically detect viable cells has been proposed relying on the use of DNA binding molecules as sample pretreatment previous to the qPCR. In this study propidium monoazide (PMA) and reagent D, combined with qPCR, were evaluated for the detection and quantification of viable Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. Initially, th…
Drought-related cholera outbreaks in Africa and the implications for climate change: a narrative review.
2021
ABSTRACT Africa has historically seen several periods of prolonged and extreme droughts across the continent, causing food insecurity, exacerbating social inequity and frequent mortality. A known consequence of droughts and their associated risk factors are infectious disease outbreaks, which are worsened by malnutrition, poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene and population displacement. Cholera is a potential causative agent of such outbreaks. Africa has the highest global cholera burden, several drought-prone regions and high levels of inequity. Despite this, research on cholera and drought in Africa is lacking. Here, we review available research on drought-related cholera outbreak…
Evidence of autochthonous transmission of urinary schistosomiasis in Almeria (southeast Spain): An outbreak analysis.
2021
Abstract Background Schistosomiasis is endemic in 78 countries belonging to tropical and subtropical areas. However, autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis was reported in Corsica (France) in 2013. We present evidence of autochthonous transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis in Almeria (Spain) in 2003. Methods Description of the outbreak in farmers and subsequent epidemiological studies aimed at searching for Bulinus snails and their genotypic characteristics. Results The outbreak affected 4 farmers out of a group of 5 people who repeatedly bathed that summer in an irrigation pool in the area. Two of them presented macroscopic hematuria with bilharziomas, showing the pre…
Analysis of the Overdispersed Clock in the Short-Term Evolution of Hepatitis C Virus: Using the E1/E2 Gene Sequences to Infer Infection Dates in a Si…
2006
Abstract The assumption of a molecular clock for dating events from sequence information is often frustrated by the presence of heterogeneity among evolutionary rates due, among other factors, to positively selected sites. In this work, our goal is to explore methods to estimate infection dates from sequence analysis. One such method, based on site stripping for clock detection, was proposed to unravel the clocklike molecular evolution in sequences showing high variability of evolutionary rates and in the presence of positive selection. Other alternatives imply accommodating heterogeneity in evolutionary rates at various levels, without eliminating any information from the data. Here we pre…
Potentially human-virulent Vibrio vulnificus isolates from diseased great pompano (Trachinotus goodei).
2019
Vibrio vulnificus is an opportunistic human pathogen responsible for the majority of seafood-associated deaths worldwide and is also a relevant fish pathogen for the aquaculture industry. In addition to infections in aquatic livestock, V. vulnificus also represents a risk to aquarium animals. For the first time, this work describes an important mortality outbreak in Trachinotus goodei in a zoo aquarium, with the isolation of Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) from the internal organs of the diseased fish. The isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF MS, serotyped and characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Although the isolates from great pompanos did not belong to pathovar piscis (forme…