The natural history of rabies from the 1930s to the present is described in a setting of its global epidemiology. The people who inaugurated many of the rabies control programs and the animal species that have been known to transmit rabies and cause outbreaks are reviewed. The education of government agencies and public health authorities as well as veterinarians and research scientists about rabies control is considered as a worldwide problem.

Americas↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Use of antimicrobial agents in animal feeds: implications for human health.

The inclusion of subtherapeutic doses of antimicrobial agents in animal feed is credited for having contributed to lower costs of meat, milk, and eggs. The practice often is associated with the acquisition of resistant enteric flora by the involved animals, a phenomenon that in turn may contribute to the human reservoir of coliforms and salmonellae resistant to antimicrobial agents. Farm workers may transiently acquire resistant intestinal flora and on rare occasions develop salmonellosis. Although irrefutable evidence of the growth-promoting properties of antibiotics in animal feed was provided 30-40 years ago, additional studies--with a focus on mechanisms of the effect--are presently needed. It may be possible to identify factors effective in promoting growth without deleterious effects on the intestinal flora. A national program of surveillance of antimicrobial administration (in both subtherapeutic and therapeutic doses) to food-producing animals should be established. Molecular epidemiologic research efforts must be undertaken to determine whether genetic information of animal origin contributes significantly to the human environmental pool of antimicrobial resistance. In the meantime, it does not appear that the banning of drugs as feed additives, with concomitant unrestricted use of these agents for the treatment of both animals and people, would favorably influence the problems of antimicrobial resistance and salmonellosis in human populations.

Animal Feed↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Knowledge-based patient screening for rare and emerging infectious/parasitic diseases: a case study of brucellosis and murine typhus.

Many infectious and parasitic diseases, especially those newly emerging or reemerging, present a difficult diagnostic challenge because of their obscurity and low incidence. Important clues that could lead to an initial diagnosis are often overlooked, misinterpreted, not linked to a disease, or disregarded. We constructed a computer-based decision support system containing 223 infectious and parasitic diseases and used it to conduct a historical intervention study based on field investigation records of 200 cases of human brucellosis and 96 cases of murine typhus that occurred in Texas from 1980 through 1989. Knowledge-based screening showed that the average number of days from the initial patient visit to the time of correct diagnosis was significantly reduced (brucellosis-from 17.9 to 4.5 days, p = 0.0001, murine typhus-from 11.5 to 8.6 days, p = 0.001). This study demonstrates the potential value of knowledge-based patient screening for rare infectious and parasitic diseases.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Trichiniasis in the U.S. population, 1966-70. Prevalence and epidemiologic factors.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Age Factors↗