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PubMed2002

Natural nidality in Bolivian hemorrhagic fever and the systematics of the reservoir species.

Zoonoses within wild reservoir host populations often occur focally obeying Pavlovskii's rules of "natural nidality". What appears to be a clear example is Bolivian hemorrhagic fever (BHF), a disease endemic to northeastern Bolivia. The etiological agent is Machupo virus (MACV, Arenaviridae). The vertebrate reservoir, identified 30 years ago, was Calomys callosus a wild rodent common to open biomes in the lowlands of southeastern South America. The lack of concordance between the occurrence of MACV and the range of its rodent host has puzzled cadres of researchers and could be used as an exemplar of natural nidality. Here, we show that the populations of rodents responsible for the maintenance and transmission of MACV are an independent monophyletic lineage, different from those in other areas of South America. Therefore a clearer understanding of the systematics of the host species explains the apparent natural nidality of BHF. Similar studies may prove to be informative in other zoonoses.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Low rates of ehrlichiosis and Lyme borreliosis in English farmworkers.

To determine the occupational significance of tick-borne zoonoses we sought serological evidence of Lyme borreliosis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) in a representative sample of farmworkers. Although around 20% reported ticks on their domestic and companion animals, few (< 2% per year) reported being bitten by ticks. Seroprevalence of Lyme borreliosis (0.2%), HME (0.2%) and HGE (1.5%) was low. Those seropositive for HGE were no more likely to report tick bites nor more likely to report ticks on their animals. This study provides evidence that farmworkers in England are exposed to tick-borne zoonoses but that they are uncommon. Since the severity of these diseases is linked to delays in diagnosis and treatment, clinicians should be aware of these diagnoses in patients from rural communities, with or without a self-reported history of tick bite.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

An eco-epidemiological study of contamination of soil with infective forms of intestinal parasites.

The objectives of the present work were to screen topsoil samples collected from public squares in two cities within the Argentine Patagonia for the presence of infective forms of intestinal parasites and to examine the possible relationship between positive findings and the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions of that region. For this purpose we studied 13 public squares, their 13 custodians, and 44 family groups within their respective surrounding areas. Of the 226 topsoil samples analyzed, 44.3% proved positive for infective forms of intestinal parasites, with 17.3% of these containing more than one species. The frequency of appearance of positive samples was dependent on the season of the year (p < 0.001), while presence of the parasites was related to the soil pH (p < 0.05) but independent of the soil relative humidity (p > 0.05). Some of the organisms detected are associated with zoonoses. We observed the presence of Capillaria spp. and Spirocerca spp. under cool desert climatic conditions. Within the group of custodians we detected hematologic alterations one positive serology for toxoplasmosis and documented behavior conducive to risk of infection with the parasites found in those squares. Within the family group an acquaintance with parasitic zoonoses and their prevention was an inconsistent finding, with toxocarosis and toxoplasmosis being the diseases associated with the greatest degree of ignorance. Furthermore, we consider the failure to de-parasitize pets and the practice of feeding them with raw meat, as typically found in our family survey, to be factors contributing to a greater likelihood of public square contamination. From the results obtained here, we propose a spatial organization approach for the purpose of detecting zones at risk of contracting zoonotic parasitoses within urban environments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

National assessment of human health effects of climate change in Portugal: approach and key findings.

In this study we investigated the potential impact of climate change in Portugal on heat-related mortality, air pollution-related health effects, and selected vectorborne diseases. The assessment used climate scenarios from two regional climate models for a range of future time periods. The annual heat-related death rates in Lisbon may increase from between 5.4 and 6 per 100,000 in 1980-1998 to between 8.5 and 12.1 by the 2020s and to a maximum of 29.5 by the 2050s, if no adaptations occur. The projected warmer and more variable weather may result in better dispersion of nitrogen dioxide levels in winter, whereas the higher temperatures may reduce air quality during the warmer months by increasing tropospheric ozone levels. We estimated the future risk of zoonoses using ecologic scenarios to describe future changes in vectors and parasites. Malaria and schistosomiasis, which are currently not endemic in Portugal, are more sensitive to the introduction of infected vectors than to temperature changes. Higher temperatures may increase the transmission risk of zoonoses that are currently endemic to Portugal, such as leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, and Mediterranean spotted fever.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed2000

Babesiosis in a renal transplant recipient acquired through blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: The success of organ-replacement therapies has resulted in a population of chronically immunosuppressed but active people who experience increased vulnerability to tick-borne zoonoses. Several of these infections may be life threatening. Human babesiosis is an emerging zoonosis that is transmitted by the same tick that transmits Lyme disease and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. METHODS: We briefly review these zoonoses and present a case of a renal transplant recipient who survived infection by Babesia microti contracted through blood transfusion. RESULTS: A recipient of a living-related renal transplant developed acute postoperative hemolytic anemia. The etiology of this anemia was diagnosed by peripheral red blood cell smear as Babesia microti. The patient was managed by a reduction in transplant immunosuppressive therapy and administration of clindamycin and quinine antimicrobials. CONCLUSIONS: Transplant patients may contract babesiosis after tick exposure and/or via blood transfusion. The diagnosis of babesiosis may be confused with malaria and should be included in the differential diagnosis of posttransplant hemolytic-uremic syndrome in organ transplant patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Infection and invasion of humans in the Yamal Peninsula].

The helminthic fauna of vertebrates in the Yamal peninsula consists of 61 species: of them 2 species are monogenic, 6 are trematodes, 29 are cestodes, and 24 are nematodes. Twelve species of the 4 are antroponoses and 8 are zoonoses which may parasite on human beings. Human infection with some zoonoses is due to local habits of eating raw or undercooked meat of wild animals, domestic deers, and fish. These helminthic diseases include trichinosis, taeniasis, opisthorchiasis, diphyllobothriasis. On contacting with dogs and Arctic foxes, the population is infected with echinococciasis, alveococciasis, toxoplasmosis. The foci of brucellosis, anthrax, tularemia, leptospirosis, rickettsioses, rabies, and toxoplasmosis were notified in the Yamal peninsula. Intensive migration of the population contributes to the importation of new species of causative agents to the peninsula and to the deterioration of the situation of endemic invasions and infections. Thus, in-depth study of parasitic and natural focus-related diseases in this region becomes partially urgent now.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

[Occupational infectious diseases in the Czech Republic].

INTRODUCTION: The authors present a survey on the incidence of occupational infectious and parasitic diseases in the Czech Republic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1996 and 2000, occupational infectious and invasive diseases were diagnosed in 1906 patients. This is about 18% of the total number of diagnosed cases in the period under study. The total number of the diagnosed diseases included 68% of those occurring due to interhuman transmission, 29% of zoonoses and 3% of tropical diseases. The majority of occupational infectious diseases developed in health care workers (66%). This was followed by agriculture, game management and forestry workers (20%). In the group of sick workers, women outnumbered men (74% vs. 26%). The mean age of those affected was 39.2 +/- 11.9, range, 16-79 years. RESULTS: Scabies, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis predominated in the group of transmitted diseases and trichophytoses, erysipeloid and Lyme borreliosis among zoonoses. During the whole period of investigation, scabies occupied the first place among occupational infectious diseases. The increased incidence of diseases is mostly due to epidemics in the general population, and its spread is attributed to a low hygiene and social standards, overcrowding, increased migration that creates a higher risk for the elderly, mentally retarded and immunocompromised subjects. In tropical and subtropical countries, contract workers suffered mostly from malaria, amebiasis and infectious hepatitis A. CONCLUSIONS: It was possible to clearly identify occupational infectious and parasitic disease in different working conditions. The results of the survey confirm that infectious and parasitic diseases still create a difficult problem especially among health care and agriculture or forestry workers.

Communicable Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The "Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut": past, present and future of research in infectious diseases of animals.

The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, founded in 1910 by Friedrich Loeffler, the discoverer of the first animal virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, is the oldest virological research facility in the world. Beyond viruses, its area of competence has significantly expanded since its foundation and now also covers bacterial, parasitic and prion diseases of livestock, poultry and aquatic animals. Presently located at four sites within Germany (Insel Riems, Jena,Tübingen,Wusterhausen) the tasks of the institute as delineated in the Animal Disease Act encompass research on infectious animal diseases including zoonoses, import/export examinations, epidemiological studies in case of outbreaks of notifiable animal diseases, acting as reference laboratory for notifiable animal diseases and nationwide quality management of diagnosis of notifiable animal diseases. It is obliged to publish and maintain up-to-date diagnostic regimes for notifiable animal diseases, and it publishes a yearly report on animal health in Germany. With the increasing importance of infectious diseases of animals, in particular those potentially harmful to man (zoonoses), the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut will be moving into new facilities including laboratories and animal facilities up to the highest biosafety level at its main site Insel Riems on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed2006

Problems associated with shellfish farming.

Shellfish culture is a major sector of aquaculture production worldwide, and zoonoses and drug residues associated with shellfish farm practice are of concern to public health. This paper focuses on three of the most important shellfish species: molluscs, crabs and shrimp. Although many diseases can affect shellfish, they do not appear to be transmittable to humans. Rather, the main hazards are associated with the methods used to farm the different species. The risk to human health from shellfish most commonly relates to contamination by biotoxins produced by marine algae. Another well-recognised problem associated with shellfish culture is the contamination of shellfish with domestic sewage that contains human pathogenic bacteria and viruses, which causes diseases such as typhoid fever and hepatitis. In shrimp farming, the main potential food safety hazards are zoonoses, chemical contamination and veterinary drug residues. Untreated effluent from shrimp farms is a major concern to the environmental sector as it is known to promote plankton blooms if directly discharged into natural water sources.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Assuring food safety: the complementary tasks and standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization specifically recognises the international standards developed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). OIE standards focus on animal health and zoonoses and those of the CAC on food safety, but since zoonoses can affect food safety, it is vital that the two organisations cooperate closely to avoid duplication of effort, gaps and conflicting standards. The OIE has established an Animal Production Food Safety Working Group to promote cooperation with the CAC and to act as a steering committee for the OIE's work programme on the development of standards aimed at protecting consumers from foodborne hazards arising from animals at the production level of the food chain. This paper describes briefly how standards are developed by the OIE and the CAC and gives examples of how the tasks and standards of the two organisations complement each other in helping to assure food safety. The areas covered include meat hygiene, the identification and traceability of live animals, model certificates for international trade, antimicrobial resistance, veterinary drugs, animal feed, and salmonellosis.

Animal Welfare↗
PubMed1989

[Simultaneous toxoplasmosis and larval toxocariasis infection in the Czechoslovak population].

The authors discuss the coexistence of infection with toxoplasmosis and larval toxocariasis in man. Both these zoonoses are the most widespread and most serious of all tissue parasitoses on the territory of the CSSR. Knowledge of the incidence and frequency of concurrent infections is important for the differential diagnosis and therapy. In the introduction the authors mention briefly the incidence of toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis in animal hosts on the territory of the CSSR, deals with the developmental stages of the two parasites, Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati which are infectious also for man, and with the transmission of infection. In the world literature there are so far only two papers dealing with the parallel course of these two zoonoses and they present only one confirmed case of concurrent disease in man. In the diagnostic group investigated by the authors during examination of tissue helminthoses among almost 9000 examinations larval toxocarosis was diagnosed 798 times. These patients were examined repeatedly to investigate the dynamics of toxocaral antibodies and concurrently possible toxoplasmatic antibodies. In 45 instances concurrent toxoplasmosis was revealed. In the discussion the author deals with possibilities and interrelations of infection with the two parasitoses.

Czechoslovakia↗
PubMed1989

Prevalence of hazardous exposures in veterinary practice.

All female graduates of a major U.S. veterinary school were surveyed by mailed questionnaire to obtain details of work practice and hazard exposure during the most recent year worked and during all pregnancies. Exposure questions were based on previously implicated occupational hazards which included anesthetic gases, radiation, zoonoses, prostaglandins, vaccines, physical trauma, and pesticides. The response rate was 86% (462/537). We found that practice type and pregnancy status were major determinants of hazard exposure within the veterinary profession. Small-animal practitioners reported the highest rates of exposure to anesthetic gas (94%), X-ray (90%), and pesticides (57%). Large-animal practitioners reported greater rates of trauma (64%) and potential exposure to prostaglandins (92%), Brucella abortus vaccine (23%), and carbon monoxide (18%). Potentially hazardous workplace practices or equipment were common. Forty-one percent of respondents who reported taking X-rays did not wear film badges, and 76% reported physically restraining animals for X-ray procedures. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents exposed to anesthetic gases worked at facilities which did not have waste anesthetic gas scavenging systems. Women who worked as veterinarians during a pregnancy attempted to reduce exposures to X-rays, insecticides, and other potentially hazardous exposures. Some potentially hazardous workplace exposures are common in veterinary practice, and measures to educate workers and to reduce these exposures should not await demonstration of adverse health effects.

Anesthetics↗
PubMed1991

Epidemiology of rickettsial diseases.

Rickettsial diseases have a diversity of epidemiologic characteristics reflective of the variety of ecologic situations in which the obligate intracellular bacteria are transmitted to humans. For the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae, Rickettsia typhi, R. tsutsugamushi, Coxiella burnetii, and the human ehrlichial agent, humans are a dead-end host who plays no role in the maintenance of the organism in nature. All rickettsioses exist as zoonoses. Moreover, all rickettsiae are found in infected arthopods, which generally serve as the natural hosts and can transmit the infection to the next generation of ticks, mites, chiggers, or fleas. From our anthropocentric viewpoint, Q fever aerosol infection from parturient animals and Brill-Zinsser disease ignited epidemics of louse-borne epidemic typhus are exceptions. However, silent cycles of C. burnetii in ticks and R. prowazekii in the flying squirrel flea may have maintained these agents in transovarial or enzootic cycles for eons before humans and their domestic animals arrived on the scene. Thus, the epidemiology of rickettsial diseases must be recognized as an unfortunate aberration of the rickettsial economy. Several excellent reviews of rickettsial ecology contain a wealth of useful information.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Fasciolopsiasis: is it a controllable food-borne disease?

Fasciolopsiasis, endemic to the Orient and Southeast Asia, is a snail-transmitted, intestinal, food-borne parasitic zoonosis caused by a trematode, Fasciolopsis buski, which also infects farm pigs. Fasciolopsiasis remains a public health problem despite changes in eating habits, alterations in social and agricultural practices, health education, industrialization, and environmental alterations. The disease occurs focally and is most prevalent in school-age children. In foci of parasite transmission, the prevalence of infection in children ranges from 57% in mainland China to 25% in Taiwan and from 50% in Bangladesh and 60% in India to 10% in Thailand. Control programs implemented for food-borne zoonoses are not fully successful for fasciolopsiasis because of century-old traditions of eating raw aquatic plants and using untreated water. Fasciolopsiasis is aggravated by social and economic factors such as poverty, malnutrition, an explosively growing free-food market, a lack of sufficient food inspection and sanitation, other helminthiases, and declining economic conditions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Endemic disease and development: the leishmaniases.

Health and sustainable development are intricately interwoven. Communities under pressure from a barrage of endemic diseases face tremendous obstacles in achieving an improved quality of life. The leishmaniases are examples of hitherto underestimated parasitic zoonoses which place those communities affected at significant risk of morbidity, debility and mortality. This article summarizes the experience of community-based applied research projects on leishmaniasis supported by the Canadian International Development Research Centre, in Lebanon, Jordan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tunisia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. The article examines the role of leishmaniasis-associated morbidity versus mortality, and the impact of these diseases on a community's capacity to develop. It further analyzes the various determinants of leishmaniasis infection, disease and outcomes, and their interactions at the individual as well as the community level. Adverse health implications as a result of external and intervening factors are examined. Such factors include ecological/environmental changes such as those arising from developmental projects, unplanned urbanization, and continuous movements of populations. The paper views strategies for prevention and control of leishmaniases in the context of socio-political and economic constraints of the affected countries. Particularly emphasized is the need to take into account the knowledge base, beliefs, perceptions and practices of the population by incorporating active community participation in preventive and intervention practices. Leishmaniasis poses a particular challenge to classical health systems that tend to resist innovative change needed to address socio-political and economic realities of the present and future decades.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1996

Immunology and genetics of zoonotic infections involving parasites.

Zoonoses involving parasites are both common and important, some causing serious diseases. The abilities of such parasites to pass between humans and a variety of vertebrates facilitates their use as experimental model systems. Much can be learned about the host-parasite relationships of zoonotic infections from laboratory-based studies, particularly where it is possible to make use of defined parasite isolates in a variety of host species or in genetically defined strains of a given host. This review focuses on our current understanding of the immunological influences upon host-parasite interactions involving zoonotic parasites and on how such influences are modified by the genetic variability found n populations of both hosts and parasites. Particular emphasis is given to data arising from work with the intestinal parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis and other isolates of the genus Trichinella.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Leishmaniasis in Mediterranean countries.

The epidemiology of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis is described in the Mediterranean countries where a recrudescence and a geographical spread of these zoonoses are noted. Recent findings concerning isoenzyme identification of the causative agents are given and the problems encountered in the development of vaccines to protect humans and dogs are discussed.

Africa, Northern↗
PubMed2005

Safety issues in the exotic pet practice.

Small animal practitioners are well versed in the potential zoonoses from dogs and cats. Although these account for the vast majority of documented cases of zoonotic disease in humans, there are documented as well as potential zoonotic diseases that the nontraditional companion animal is capable of transmitting. This article is a compilation of potential disease risks to veterinarians, staff, and owners of nontraditional companion animals. In addition, the article may serve as a training tool for veterinary practices.

Animals↗