Zoonotic Infections News

A team of Texas A&M researchers fastened miniature radio transmitters to the backs of elusive triatomine bugs to track and study their movements in an effort to better understand their habits and it is hoped one day reduce the risk for Chagas disease.

More than 60% of armadillos in an area of the Brazilian Amazon tested positive for leprosy bacteria, and 63% of residents in the area surveyed were found to have been exposed to the bacteria, according to findings published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

In healthy participants, intradermal administration of a double dose of rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, given during two clinic visits was safe and noninferior to a standard three-visit schedule, according to recent data.

In July 1988, the first issue of Infectious Disease News was published (Figure 1, that’s right, I kept it all these years), with Dr. Ted Eickhoff as the Chief Medical Editor. Virtually all adult and pediatric infectious disease specialists received it at no cost. And although unsolicited publications (freebies) are often mostly a glorified collection of advertisements, IDN seemed different, with meaningful, well-written pieces, by very reputable experts, supplemented by high-quality pictures on glossy paper. It took the reputation of Dr. Eickhoff to recruit leading experts to contribute and his academic leadership to ensure overall quality.

Influenza viruses, including H1N1, H3N2 and H3N8, have spread from swine to pet dogs in the Guanxi Zhuag autonomous region in China, according to findings published in mBio. These viruses pose a potential risk to humans, researchers said.

Children and adolescents in Puerto Rico who provided specimens in the form of serum shortly after the onset of symptoms associated with Zika virus infection had a higher viral load than those who presented later with urine specimens, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.

A human vaccine to protect against the Nipah and Hendra viruses is to be developed through an agreement between the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Profectus BioSciences Inc. and Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

An outbreak of Nipah virus in India has infected at least 15 people and killed at least 13, according to WHO.

Scientists are concerned that a recently discovered coronavirus could emerge to cause outbreaks in humans.

CDC researchers have developed a real-time PCR-based rabies test that the agency said is simpler and more precise than direct fluorescent antibody, or DFA, testing, which is the current gold-standard for rabies diagnosis.