Zoonotic Infections News

CHICAGO — Benznidazole monotherapy or benznidazole combined with posaconazole is more effective at treating Trypanosoma cruzi infection in asymptomatic patients than posaconazole alone, according to data presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.

Between late 2011 and 2013, three men in succession — aged 63, 62 and 72 years — from the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, suffered a progressive encephalitis or meningoencephalitis that led to death within 2 to 4 months after the onset of clinical symptoms. The clinical course was characterized by fever, shivers, or both; progressive psychomotor slowing; confusion; unsteady gait; myoclonus, ocular paresis, or both; and finally, coma. All three were breeders of variegated squirrels, a tree squirrel that is endemic in Central America from south Chiapas, Mexico, to Panama. They were friends, had met privately on a regular basis, and had exchanged their squirrel-breeding pairs on multiple occasions. At least two of the men had been scratched by their squirrels in the past; one had been bitten.

Fermented date palm sap contaminated with bat excrement appeared to be the source of an outbreak of Nipah virus in Bangladesh, according to a recent investigation.

An early diagnosis of Lyme disease can help prevent systemic disease involvement, but currently available diagnostic tests are not sensitive, according to recently presented research. The findings also noted treatment regimens may not prevent long-term complications for many patients, and insurance coverage for treatment may be hindered by diagnostic and treatment shortcomings.

Contact investigations of two pulmonary tuberculosis cases resulting from Mycobacterium bovis infection suggest that multiple instances of potential airborne transmission may have contributed to the bacterium’s spread among Nebraskan residents.

An adolescent girl was diagnosed with rat-bite fever, a serious but treatable infection, caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis bacteria transmitted by her pet rats, according to a recent case report.

Researchers have reported the first laboratory-confirmed case of Trypanosoma evansi infection in a Vietnamese woman with no deficiencies and linked transmission of the parasite with bovid exposure.

Miltefosine was well-tolerated and effectively treated complicated Old World cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis, making it an ideal first-line treatment option, according to findings published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

A randomized controlled trial of gatifloxacin, a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone, for the treatment of enteric infections was forced to end early due to the emergence of drug resistance, according to researchers. In addition, the trial’s comparator drug, ceftriaxone, was suboptimal in a large number of patients with culture-negative enteric fever.

A recent report detailing asymptomatic vaccinia virus in Brazilian dogs and opossums suggested that these mammalian species could act as reservoirs for the infection.