Zoonotic Infections News

Epidemics of West Nile virus in Dallas County, Texas, usually occur after unusually warm winters and are strongly predicted by the mosquito vector index, according to researchers from Dallas County Health and Human Services and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

An outbreak of dengue virus affected 3.7% of the 6,600 residents of the state of Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia, CDC reported in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The population’s immunity to influenza A(H7N9) is similar to that observed for other avian influenzas, which is generally very low, researchers have found.

A specific type of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — CC398 — is especially prevalent among veterinarians, and the infection seems to persist for prolonged periods, according to study findings.

A nationwide outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium that occurred between 2008 and 2011 was linked to African dwarf frogs. Therefore, researchers for a recent study are advising pediatricians to ask patients and their parents about exposure to these frogs and other amphibians.

A nationwide outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium that occurred between 2008 and 2011 was linked to African dwarf frogs. Therefore, researchers for a recent study are advising pediatricians to ask patients and their parents about exposure to these frogs and other amphibians.

More than 60% of human infectious diseases are caused by pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals. Human pathogens from all taxa contain zoonotic species. Roughly 80% of viruses, 50% of bacteria, 40% of fungi, 70% of protozoa and 95% of helminths that infect human beings are zoonotic.

A prediction rule that identified patients at low-risk for Q fever pneumonia helped physicians from French Guiana make decisions about the use of antibiotherapy in this patient population.

Handling contaminated reagents or contact with contaminated surfaces was determined to be the most likely way that the first human case of laboratory-acquired human cowpox virus was transmitted, according to researchers from the CDC.

Animal contact was responsible for transmission of multiple major enteric pathogens among US residents, with Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium and nontyphoidal Salmonella species as the leading causes of illness, according to CDC researchers.