Since the emergence of Canine parvovirus (CPV-2) in the late 1970s, CPV-2 has evolved consecutively new antigenic types, CPV-2a and 2b. Although CPV-2 did not have a feline host range, CPV-2a and 2b appear to have gained the ability to replicate in cats. Recent investigations demonstrate the prevalence of CPV-2a and 2b infection in a wide range of cat populations. We illustrate the pathogenic potential of CPV in cats and assesses the risk caused by CPV variants.

The need to stem the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance has prompted multiple, sometimes conflicting, calls for changes in the use of antimicrobial agents. One source of disagreement concerns the major mechanisms by which antibiotics select resistant strains. For infections like tuberculosis, in which resistance can emerge in treated hosts through mutation, prevention of antimicrobial resistance in individual hosts is a primary method of preventing the spread of resistant organisms in the community. By contrast, for many other important resistant pathogens, such as penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium resistance is mediated by the acquisition of genes or gene fragments by horizontal transfer; resistance in the treated host is a relatively rare event. For these organisms, indirect, population-level mechanisms of selection account for the increase in the prevalence of resistance. These mechanisms can operate even when treatment has a modest, or even negative, effect on an individual host’s colonization with resistant organisms.

Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm infection of raccoons, is emerging as an important helminthic zoonosis, principally affecting young children. Raccoons have increasingly become peridomestic animals living in close proximity to human residences. When B. procyonis eggs are ingested by a host other than a raccoon, migration of larvae through tissue, termed larval migrans, ensues. This larval infection can invade the brain and eye, causing severe disease and death. The prevalence of B. procyonis infection in raccoons is often high, and infected animals can shed enormous numbers of eggs in their feces. These eggs can survive in the environment for extended periods of time, and the infectious dose of B. procyonis is relatively low. Therefore, the risk for human exposure and infection may be greater than is currently recognized.

Among the goals of the molecular epidemiology of infectious disease are to quantify the extent of ongoing transmission of infectious agents and to identify host- and strain-specific risk factors for disease spread. I demonstrate the potential bias in estimates of recent transmission and the impact of risk factors for clustering by using computer simulations to reconstruct populations of tuberculosis patients and sample from them. The bias consistently results in underestimating recent transmission and the impact of risk factors for recent transmission.

In the summer of 1998, a large outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred in Alpine, Wyoming. We identified 157 ill persons; stool from 71 (45%) yielded E. coli O157:H7. In two cohort studies, illness was significantly associated with drinking municipal water (town residents: adjusted odds ratio=10.1, 95% confidence intervals [CI]=1.8-56.4; visitors attending family reunion: relative risk=9.0, 95% CI=1.3-63.3). The unchlorinated water supply had microbiologic evidence of fecal organisms and the potential for chronic contamination with surface water. Among persons exposed to water, the attack rate was significantly lower in town residents than in visitors (23% vs. 50%, p<0.01) and decreased with increasing age. The lower attack rate among exposed residents, especially adults, is consistent with the acquisition of partial immunity following long-term exposure. Serologic data, although limited, may support this finding. Contamination of small, unprotected water systems may be an increasing public health risk.

We describe a case of recurrent coccidioidal meningitis in which a fungal biofilm on the tip of ventriculo-peritoneal shunt tubing was likely responsible for a 4-year persistence of Coccidioides immitis, despite the patient’s taking an adequate dosage of fluconazole. Fungal biofilms should be considered as a cause for treatment failure and fungal persistence, especially when artificial prostheses or indwelling catheters are present.

A total of 12 horses of different breeds and ages were infected with West Nile virus (WNV) via the bites of infected Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Half the horses were infected with a viral isolate from the brain of a horse (BC787), and half were infected with an isolate from crow brain (NY99-6625); both were NY99 isolates. Postinfection, uninfected female Ae. albopictus fed on eight of the infected horses. In the first trial, Nt antibody titers reached >1:320, 1:20, 1:160, and 1:80 for horses 1 to 4, respectively. In the second trial, the seven horses with subclinical infections developed Nt antibody titers >1:10 between days 7 and 11 post infection. The highest viremia level in horses fed upon by the recipient mosquitoes was approximately 460 Vero cell PFU/mL. All mosquitoes that fed upon viremic horses were negative for the virus. Horses infected with the NY99 strain of WNV develop low viremia levels of short duration; therefore, infected horses are unlikely to serve as important amplifying hosts for WNV in nature.

First isolated from an ill person in 1985, multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104 emerged in the mid-1990s as a strain of Salmonella frequently isolated from humans in the United States. We compared the integron content, plasmid profile, and XbaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of multidrug-resistant S. Typhimurium DT104 (MR-DT104) isolated from humans in the United States in 1985, 1990, and 1996. All isolates contained a 60-mDa plasmid and had indistinguishable PFGE and integron profiles, supporting the idea of a clonal relationship between recent and historical isolates. The data suggest that the widespread emergence of MR-DT104 in humans and animals in the 1990s may have been due to the dissemination of a strain already present in the United States rather than the introduction of a new strain.

West Nile virus (WNV) was isolated in a flock of 1,200 migrating white storks that landed in Eilat, a town in southern Israel, on August 26, 1998. Strong, hot westerly winds had forced the storks to fly under considerable physical stress before reaching the agricultural land surrounding the town. Most of the flock were fledglings, <1 year old, which had hatched in Europe. Thirteen dead or dying storks were collected 2 days after arrival and submitted to the laboratory for examination. Four WNV isolates were obtained from their brains. Out of 11 storks tested six days after arrival, three had WNV-neutralizing antibodies. Comparative analysis of full-length genomic sequences of a stork isolate and a 1999 flamingo isolate from the USA showed 28 nucleotide (nt) (0.25%) and 10 amino acid (0.3%) changes. Sequence analysis of the envelope gene of the stork isolate showed almost complete identity with isolates from Israeli domestic geese in 1998 and 1999 and from a nonmigrating, white-eyed gull in 1999. Since these storks were migrating southwards for the first time and had not flown over Israel, we assume that they had become infected with WNV at some point along their route of migration in Europe.

We conducted a case-control study in Wisconsin to determine whether some patients have long-term adverse health outcomes after antibiotic treatment for human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE). A standardized health status questionnaire was administered to patients and controls matched by age group and sex. Consenting patients provided blood samples for serologic testing. Among the 85 previously treated patients, the median interval since onset of illness was 24 months. Compared with 102 controls, patients were more likely to report recurrent or continuous fevers, chills, fatigue, and sweats. Patients had lower health status scores than controls for bodily pain and health relative to 1 year earlier, but there was no significant difference in physical functioning, role limitations, general health, or vitality measures. The HGE antibody titer remained elevated in one patient; two had elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels. HGE may cause a postinfectious syndrome characterized by constitutional symptoms without functional disability or serologic evidence of persistent infection.

A national survey was sent to all appropriate Veterans Health Administration (VA) medical facilities asking abut the ability to test for Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin (SARV) (MICs >4 μg/mL). Also, a request was made for the number of patients having SARV isolated during a 1-year period. Nineteen patients from eight sites across the country had isolation of SARV. Of these, MicroScan (Dade Behring, Inc, MicroScan Division, West Sacramento, CA) technology was used for 17 patients, Vitek (Hazelwood, MO) was used for 1 of the remaining 2 patients, and E-test (AB Biiodisk North America, Inc, Piscataway, NJ) for the other. All patients with this organism had microbiology testing done onsite in the reporting VA facility’s College of American Pathologists-approved laboratory. For comparison, similar data were obtained for a 1-year period 2 years prior to the current survey; seven patients from four sites were verified to have a SARV. Between the two survey periods the reported cases of SARV increased 170%, indicating a need for continued surveillance and potentially a need to initiate a collection of isolates for further analysis.

From February through May of 1999, 13 cases of Influenza A virus (FLUAV), type H1N1 were reported at a Department of Defense influenza surveillance sentinel site in Lima, Peru. Genetic and antigenic analysis by hemagglutination inhibition and direct nucleotide sequencing of the HA1 region of the hemagglutinin gene were performed on two isolates, A/Peru/1641/99 and A/Peru/1798/99. Both isolates were distinct from the Bayern/7/95-like viruses circulating in the Americas and closely related to a Beijing/262/95-like variant, A/New Caledonia/20/99. With the exception of travel-related cases, the detection of these isolates represents the first appearance of New Caledonia/20/99-like viruses in the Americas. Since the characterization of these Peru isolates, a number of New Caledonia/20/99-like viruses have been reported worldwide. For the 2000/01 and 2001/02 influenza seasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the inclusion of A/New Caledonia/20/99 as the H1N1 vaccine component for both the southern and northern hemispheres.

From 1992 to 2000, 976 sera, 27 blood pellets, and 91 brains were obtained from 14 bat species in 37 localities in Spain. Specific anti-European bat lyssavirus 1 (EBL1)-neutralizing antibodies have been detected in Myotis myotis, Miniopterus schreibersii, Tadarida teniotis, and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in the region of Aragon and the Balearic Islands. Positive results were also obtained by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction on brain, blood pellet, lung, heart, tongue, and esophagus-larynx-pharynx of M. myotis, Myotis nattereri, R. ferrumequinum, and M. schreibersii. Determination of nucleotide sequence confirmed the presence of EBL1 RNA in the different tissues. In one colony, the prevalence of seropositive bats over time corresponded to an asymmetrical curve, with a sudden initial increase peaking at 60% of the bats, followed by a gradual decline. Banded seropositive bats were recovered during several years, indicating that EBL1 infection in these bats was nonlethal. At least one of this species (M. schreibersii) is migratory and thus could be partially responsible for the dissemination of EBL1 on both shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

We conducted a prospective, nationwide, population-based study of invasive group A streptococcal infections in Israel. We identified 409 patients (median age 27 years; range <1-92), for an annual incidence of 3.7/100,000 (11/100,000 in Jerusalem). The mortality rate was 5%. Bacteremia occurred in 125 cases (31%). The most common illnesses were soft-tissue infection (63%) and primary bacteremia (14%). Thirty percent of patients had no identifiable risk factors for infection. Eighty-seven percent of pharyngeal carriers had the same serotype as the index patient. M types included M3 (25%), M28 (10%), and M-nontypable (33%). A marked paucity of M1 serotype (1.2%) was detected. The results highlighted concentrated pockets of invasive disease in the Jewish orthodox community (annual incidence 16/100,000).

The native population collapse in 16th century Mexico was a demographic catastrophe with one of the highest death rates in history. Recently developed tree-ring evidence has allowed the levels of precipitation to be reconstructed for north central Mexico, adding to the growing body of epidemiologic evidence and indicating that the 1545 and 1576 epidemics of cocoliztli (Nahuatl for "pest”) were indigenous hemorrhagic fevers transmitted by rodent hosts and aggravated by extreme drought conditions.

To support diagnostic and preventive decision making, we analyzed incidence of Lyme disease in Maryland on the zip code level. Areas of high incidence were identified on the Upper Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay and in counties north and east of Baltimore City. These latter foci, especially, are not visible when mapping Lyme disease on the county level.”

We have identified Salmonella genomic island I (SGI1) in an isolate of Salmonella enterica serotype Paratyphi B. This antibiotic-resistance gene cluster, which confers multidrug resistance, has been previously identified in S. enterica serotype Typhimurium phage types DT 104 and DT 120 and in S. enterica serotype Agona.

Two suspected hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) cases from Bolivia were confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. (ELISA)-ANDES was performed using N-Andes recombinant antigen serology in May and July 2000. Clot RNAs from the two patients were subjected to reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing. We describe two characterized cases of HPS. One was caused by infection with Bermejo virus and the other with Andes Nort viral lineage, both previously obtained from Oligoryzomys species. This is the first report of molecular identification of a human hantavirus associated with Bermejo virus.

In November 2000 in the Netherlands, an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis phage type 4b was investigated. Eating bean sprouts was the only exposure associated with S. Enteritidis pt 4b infection (matched odds ratio 13.0, 95% confidence interval 2.0-552.5). Contaminated seeds were the most likely cause of contamination of the sprouts. The sprout grower applied a concentration of hypochlorite solution that was too low for seed disinfection.

Multiresistant Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium definitive phage type (DT) 12 and DT 120 are more closely related to DT 104 than to non-multiresistant strains of their respective phage types. Multiresistant DT 12 and DT 120 appear to have arisen due to changes in phage susceptibility of DT 104 rather than horizontal transfer of resistance genes.