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Biomedical subjects

J F Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to J F Anderson.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Clinical and serologic studies of canine borreliosis.

During 1984 and 1985, blood samples were obtained from 271 dogs that were suspected of having borreliosis. The dogs lived in areas known to be infested with ticks and had been examined because of limb/joint disorders or for unknown illnesses marked by fever, anorexia, or fatigue. Lameness had been the most frequently reported clinical manifestation. Analyses of serum specimens, by an indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) method or by an ELISA, detected antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of borreliosis in dogs and of Lyme disease in human beings. Antibody to B burgdorferi was detected in 76.3% of 114 specimens from dogs living in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York State (predominantly Westchester County), in 66.5% of 155 specimens from dogs from southern Connecticut, and in single specimens from dogs from Rhode Island and California. Geometric mean antibody titers peaked during the winter. Results of IFA tests and ELISA were in agreement, but the latter method yielded less variable results, had greater sensitivity, and was more easily standardized. Five dogs from New York State and Connecticut seropositive to B burgdorferi had developed kidney disorders during or after episodes of intermittent lameness. Application of murine monoclonal antibody in an IFA procedure verified the presence of B burgdorferi in renal cortical tissues from one dog.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Early detection and persistence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in persons with Lyme disease.

An indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used during 1984 to detect total immunoglobulins (Ig) or IgM and IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi. Of the 139 serum samples tested by IFA, representing 110 persons with erythema chronicum migrans (ECM), 84 (60%) had either or both class-specific immunoglobulins. Serologic confirmation was made for 64 (58%) patients; serum specimens from 54 (49%) of these had elevated levels of IgM antibodies. These immunoglobulins were usually present within 14 days after diagnosis of ECM and persisted for at least 30 days. Significant titers of IgG antibodies were recorded for 54 serum samples and remained elevated for at least 19 weeks after ECM was first observed. When utilizing polyvalent (Ig) conjugates, ELISA procedures verified antibody presence in 80 of the 84 serum samples positive by IFA. Similarly, samples negative in IFA tests were non-reactive by ELISA. Additional tests of 40 control samples, obtained from persons without Lyme disease, were also uniformly negative. Both methods were suitable for confirmation of Lyme disease infections.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1987

Lyme disease in Canada with possible transmission by an insect.

The first documented case of Lyme disease to have originated in Canada is presented. A 51-year old French female nurse visited Quebec, Canada from 20 July to 5 August, 1984 and contracted Lyme disease. She reported an insect bite on 3 August 1984 on the back of her knee with erythema chronicum migrans appearing at the site of the bite on 5 August 1984. The patient presented with meningeal lymphocytic reaction near the end of September, 1984. Total Ig serum titers in indirect immunofluorescence tests on 1 October 1984, 10 October 1984, and 10 January 1985 were 1/512, 1/2048 and 1/16,384, respectively.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Cross-reactivity in serological tests for Lyme disease and other spirochetal infections.

Serum specimens from 163 persons with Lyme disease, tick-borne or louse-borne relapsing fever, yaws, syphilis, leptospirosis, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever were analyzed to assess the specificity of indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and microscopic agglutination (MA) procedures. Strong cross-reactivity occurred when sera from individuals with Lyme disease, tick-borne relapsing fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever were tested against heterologous Borrelia antigens. Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi bound to Treponema pallidum in immunofluorescence tests for syphilis. Sera from subjects with syphilis cross-reacted in IFA tests and the ELISA for Lyme disease. Immunoglobulin antibodies to Borrelia or Treponema spirochetes, however, did not react with serovars of Leptospira interrogans in MA or IFA tests, and the prevalence of false-positive results in the reciprocal analyses was negligible.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti in mice on islands inhabited by white-tailed deer.

Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti were isolated from 35 of 51 white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) captured on two Narragansett Bay, R.I., islands inhabited by deer, the principal host for the adult stages of the vector tick, Ixodes dammini. Immature ticks parasitized mice from both islands. From 105 mice captured on four other islands not inhabited by deer neither pathogen was isolated, nor were I. dammini found.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

New infectious spirochete isolated from short-tailed shrews and white-footed mice.

A spirochete with two periplasmic flagella was isolated from the blood or tissues of spleens and kidneys from short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) and white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in Connecticut and Minnesota. After inoculation, the shrew-mouse spirochete infected Swiss mice and Syrian hamsters. This spirochete is morphologically and serologically distinct from the species of Treponema, Borrelia, Leptospira, and Spirochaeta examined.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in white-footed mice and Ixodes dammini at Fort McCoy, Wis.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, was isolated from 15 of 17 white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and 54 of 82 subadult Ixodes dammini from Fort McCoy, Wis. Of the 47 isolates tested, all reacted in indirect fluorescent-antibody tests with monoclonal antibodies directed against a surface protein of B. burgdorferi (approximate molecular weight, 31,000) and flagellins that are common to all Borrelia species. Indirect fluorescent-antibody reactions were variable when an antibody that binds to a surface protein with an approximate molecular weight of 34,000 was tested. The major proteins of isolates from ticks and mice had approximate molecular weights of 31,000, 34,000, and 41,000. Antibodies to B. burgdorferi were present (titer, greater than or equal to 1:64) in 16 of 97 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The mean number of subadult I. dammini on mice captured in June 1986 was 6.5, and the mean number of adult I. dammini on deer killed in November 1986 was 5.9. The presence of ticks and the high prevalence of I. dammini and mice infected with B. burgdorferi establish that Fort McCoy is an area in which the Lyme disease agent is highly endemic, even though there have been relatively few documented cases in humans. The low number of reported cases in humans may be a result of National Guard and reserve unit personnel returning home to civilian life and having symptoms expressed subsequently, or it could be due to misdiagnosis or nonreporting.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Seasonal prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in natural populations of white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, was isolated from 111 of 237 Peromyscus leucopus captured during all seasons of the year. Borreliae were cultured from tissues of the spleen (101 mice), left kidney (76 mice), and right kidney (73 mice), from blood (12 mice), and from one fetus. Mice were infected during the winter, when immature Ixodes dammini were inactive. The prevalence of infection during the winter (less than or equal to 33%) was more than twofold lower than that during the summer (ca. 75%), a time when nymphal ticks are abundant. Overwintering, infected mice are reservoir hosts for subadult ticks that begin feeding in early spring. Twenty white-footed mice from which B. burgdorferi was isolated from tissues of spleen or kidney but not from blood were parasitized by larval I. dammini or Dermacentor variabilis which harbored borreliae. We conclude that these mice were infectious to feeding ticks, even though borreliae were not isolated from blood.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Choroid plexitis in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in southern New York State.

Brains, spinal cords, nerve roots, nerves and muscle tissues were removed from deer in southern New York State and examined for histologic evidence of infection by the causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. There was no histologic evidence of this infection and only four of 26 deer had serologic evidence of past infection despite the fact that all were parasitized by the tick vector, Ixodes dammini. Of these ticks, 21% were carrying B. burgdorferi. In contrast, most of the deer had choroid plexitis. All but one of 48 deer tested were infected with Trypanosoma cervi, 20 of 24 deer had sarcocystis in skeletal muscles and two had dural lesions probably due to the nematode Pneumostrongylus tenuis. The causal relationship between choroid plexitis and trypanosomiasis is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Culturing Borrelia burgdorferi from spleen and kidney tissues of wild-caught white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus.

Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated most frequently from tissue of spleen (n = 13) and kidney (n = 10) and less often from blood (n = 5) of wild-caught Peromyscus leucopus. Prevalence of infection tended to be highest at sites where Lyme disease was most common (e.g., 5 of 6 mice were positive in East Haddam, Connecticut). Spirochetes were not isolated in Danbury or New Hartford, areas where this malady is rare. However, in Fairfield, where the disease is also uncommon, 4 of 9 mice were infected. Larval and nymphal I. dammini, containing borreliae, parasitized P. leucopus at all sites where B. burgdorferi was cultured from mice. Borreliae were also detected in D. variabilis feeding on hosts at two of the sites. P. leucopus appears to be an excellent animal to identify focal areas of B. burgdorferi.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Involvement of birds in the epidemiology of the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, was isolated from the liver of a passerine bird, Catharus fuscescens (veery), and from larval Ixodes dammini (tick) feeding on Pheucticus ludovicianus (rose-breasted grosbeak) and Geothlypis trichas (common yellowthroat). In indirect immunofluorescence antibody tests, isolates reacted with polyclonal and monoclonal (H5332) antibodies. Studies on the DNA composition of the veery liver isolate and the strain cultured from an I. dammini larva indicated that both were B. burgdorferi and not Borrelia anserina or Borrelia hermsii. The veery liver isolate infected hamsters and a chick. In contrast, B. anserina infected chicks but not hamsters. B. burgdorferi is unique among Borrelia spp. in being infectious to both mammals and birds. We suggest that the cosmopolitan distribution of B. burgdorferi may be caused by long-distance dispersal of infected birds that serve as hosts for ticks.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Peromyscus leucopus and Microtus pennsylvanicus simultaneously infected with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, the causative agent of human babesiosis, were isolated from 71 and 57%, respectively, of 14 specimens of Peromyscus leucopus and Microtus pennsylvanicus collected from Prudence and Patience Islands, R.I. Both pathogens were isolated from five individual rodents. The presence of these two infectious organisms in the same mammal suggests that individual larval Ixodes dammini may ingest both pathogens and subsequently transmit them in the nymphal stage.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia montana from Ixodid ticks in Connecticut.

Dermacentor variabilis, infected with spotted fever group rickettsiae, parasitized 8 of 70 raccoons captured in Newtown, Connecticut. The spotted fever agent, Rickettsia rickettsii, was isolated and identified from 4 adult D. variabilis and from 1 nymphal Ixodes texanus removed from raccoons. This verifies the presence of this etiologic agent in ticks in an area where 6 people had clinical signs and symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and antibodies to R. rickettsii. These are the first isolations of R. rickettsii from D. variabilis in southern New England and the first identified rickettsiae from I. texanus. No rickettsiae were isolated from Ixodes muris or I. cookei. Rickettsia montana was recovered in Vero cell culture from a D. variabilis collected in East Haddam, Connecticut where RMSF is not known to be prevalent.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Spirochetes in ticks and antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in white-tailed deer from Connecticut, New York State, and North Carolina.

Ticks were screened for spirochetes and serum samples from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were assayed for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi during 1983-1984. Using fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled rabbit antibodies produced to B. burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, spirochetes were detected in Ixodes dammini (10.5% of 1,193) and Dermacentor albipictus (0.6% of 157) adults from Connecticut, I. dammini nymphs (49.1% of 108) and adults (64.7% of 99) from Armonk, New York, and in I. scapularis (0.4% of 531) and Amblyomma americanum (3.5% of 173) adults from North Carolina. Infected ticks were either seeking hosts or feeding on deer during the summer and fall. Direct fluorescent antibody staining also revealed spirochetes in two larvae of I. scapularis that emerged from eggs deposited by separate females in the laboratory. Using indirect immunofluorescence tests, antibodies to B. burgdorferi were identified in white-tailed deer living in tick-infested areas of all three states. Aside from minor cross-reactivity, there was no serologic evidence of Treponema or Leptospira infections. Ixodes dammini is a primary vector of B. burgdorferi in northeastern United States, but in North Carolina, other ixodid ticks may transmit this spirochete to humans and wildlife.

Animals↗