BACKGROUND: Skin infections are among the leading causes of diseases in travelers. Diagnosing pathogens could be difficult.
METHOD: We applied molecular assays for the diagnostic of a large collection of skin biopsies and swabs from travelers with suspected skin infections. All samples were tested by qPCR for Coxiella burnetti, Bartonella sp., Rickettsia sp., Borrelia sp., Ehrlichia sp., Tropheryma whipplei, Francisella tularensis, Mycobacteria sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Leishmania spp., Ortho poxvirus and Para poxvirus and then screened for the presence of bacteria by PCR amplification and sequencing, targeting the 16S rRNA gene.
RESULTS: From January 2009 to January 2017, 100 international travelers presenting with a suspected skin infection were enrolled. We detected 51 patients with an identified pathogen on skin samples. Travelers presenting with eschars were more likely to have a positive PCR sample (n = 44/76, 57.9%) compared to other patients (n = 7/24, 29.2%). Spotted fever group Rickettsia (n = 28) was the most frequently detected pathogens (19 R. africae, 6 R. conorii, 3 R. mongolitimonae); S. aureus were detected in 11 patients; S. pyogenes in 3; Leishmania sp.; M. leprae and B. henselae in 1 patient, respectively.
CONCLUSION: By targeting the most commonly encountered causative agents of travel-related skin infections, our strategy provides a sensitive and rapid diagnostic method.
Wednesday Nite @ The Lab
Published on Jan 16, 2018
“Susan Paskewitz’s talk will focus on the activities of the newly created Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease. The center was established in 2017 as a response to the increasing rate of human illness caused by tick and mosquito-transmitted diseases in the region, including Lyme disease and West Nile encephalitis. In addition to these familiar problems, new ticks, mosquitoes, and pathogens have been discovered. Solving these issues will require a new generation of trained vector biologists, cooperation and collaboration among public-health professionals and scientists, and creative and innovative research to reduce human and insect contact.”
About the Speaker
Paskewitz is the director of the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease and the chair of the Department of Entomology at UW–Madison. Her research focuses on the ecology, epidemiology, and management of ticks and mosquitoes. She teaches classes in global health, medical and veterinary entomology, and the One Health concept, during which she enjoys working with undergraduate and graduate students who seek to gain experience in public health, infectious disease, and vector-biology research. Paskewitz earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale and her doctorate at the University of Georgia–Athens.
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Highlights:
4:45 Believe it or not, Wisconsin used to have cases of Malaria.
Zika, discovered in 1947, wasn’t even in our hemisphere. Very few people infected until 2007 when there were 13-14 cases. 2015 it showed up in Brazil. First time a mosquito spread disease that is also sexually transmitted. A medical entomologist felt he gave it to his wife and then wrote a paper on it.
UW did a lot of work on Zika. Cases in the U.S. occurred when people traveled abroad, became infected, were bit by mosquitoes here, and then spread from there. Only 63 infected people in 2016, 9 more in 2017.
Do we have the mosquitoes that can pick up the virus and transmit it? The Yellow Fever mosquito is the one transmitting Zika. The mosquito is here in U.S. but NOT in WI. The Asian Tiger mosquito is a secondary vector that transmits the same viruses but not as well. Has a wider distribution and is a daytime feeder.
She looked in all the records – couldn’t find the Asian Tiger in Wisconsin. It is found in Illinois and Indiana. However, since that time they have laid many traps and found the Asian Tiger Mosquito here but she doesn’t feel they are abundant or wide spread. She also feels they won’t survive our winters but experiments are in progress. Females bite, lay eggs in wet aquatic spots, as larvae need water to grow.
(The same sort of diligence needs to happen in the world of Lyme. For instance, borrelia has been found in other insects, but entomologists downplay it and say numbers are small. This is a great example of how Lyme is treated differently then other diseases that are big money-makers for researchers.)
25:32 The Lone star tick has popped up in a number of places in WI – she doesn’t feel they will survive our winters.
Spent a lot of time talking about mosquito issues happening down South.
She admits the Center was created due to Zika.
(Don’t be shocked when all the research dollars go to Zika & not tick borne illness despite the much higher prevalence of TBI’s in WI)
Wisconsin has cases of West Nile, La Crosse Virus, and Jamestown Canyon Virus – which has increased human cases – they don’t know why.
They are working on a bacterial based topical repellent. Also working on using fish and copepods to eat mosquitos at the larval stage.
38:00 TICKS
Ticks transmit Lyme Disease – a lot and it’s not just in the North. Could pick it up anywhere in Wisconsin.
Map showing Deer tick population between 1907-1996 and 1907-2015 –
Our entire state is infested.
Sky rocket of LD in WI CONFIRMED. She admits the CDC says the cases are hugely underestimated – more like 30,000 cases per year in WI.
WI is a hotspot for newly emerging TBI – Anaplasma, Ehrlichia muris, borrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever), Babesia divergens(in Michigan but Paskowitz feels it’s probably here too).
Anaplasma seeing 400-600 cases a year in WI. Again, much underreporting.
Good, bad and ugly side of Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS)
We will discuss PTLDS on March 13, 2018 at 8PM EST. The individuals with PTLDS remained severely symptomatic for years despite after treatment for Lyme disease. I will start the discussion with a 23 year-old-woman with severe chronic pain due to PTLDS. Her functional limitations and pain were severe. She had been bedbound for approximately 5 years and required a wheelchair.
Abstract
The discovery and characterization of emerging tick-borne organisms are critical for global health initiatives to improve animal and human welfare (One Health). It is possible that unknown tick-borne organisms underlie a subset of undiagnosed illness in wildlife, domesticated species, and humans. Our study lends support to the One Health concept by highlighting the prevalence of three blood-borne organisms in wild lemurs living in close proximity to domesticated species and humans. Previously, our team identified three novel, presumably tick-borne, intravascular organisms, belonging to the genera Babesia, Borrelia, and Neoehrlichia,circulating in two of Madagascar’s lemur species. Here, we extend our previous observation by developing a targeted molecular surveillance approach aimed at determining the prevalence of these organisms in lemurs. Using quantitative PCR, we provide Babesia, Borrelia, and Neoehrlichia prevalence data for 76 individuals comprising four lemur species located in eastern Madagascar. Our results indicate a high prevalence (96%) of Babesia across sampled individuals with lower prevalences for Neoehrlichia (36%) and Borrelia (14.5%). In light of our results, we recommend additional studies of these tick-borne organisms to determine pathogenicity and assess zoonotic potency to other animals and humans in Madagascar.
Range Expansion of Tick Disease Vectors in North America: Implications for Spread of Tick-Borne Disease
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(3), 478; doi: 10.3390/ijerph15030478
Daniel E. Sonenshine 1,2
Published: 9 March 2018
Abstract : Ticks are the major vectors of most disease-causing agents to humans, companion animals and wildlife. Moreover, ticks transmit a greater variety of pathogenic agents than any other blood-feeding arthropod. Ticks have been expanding their geographic ranges in recent decades largely due to climate change. Furthermore, tick populations in many areas of their past and even newly established localities have increased in abundance. These dynamic changes present new and increasing severe public health threats to humans, livestock and companion animals in areas where they were previously unknown or were considered to be of minor importance. Here in this review, the geographic status of four representative tick species are discussed in relation to these public health concerns, namely, the American dog tick,Dermacentor variabilis, the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, the Gulf Coast Tick,Amblyomma maculatum and the black-legged tick,Ixodes scapularis. Both biotic and abiotic factors that may influence future range expansion and successful colony formation in new habitats are discussed.
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**Comment**
The introduction to this paper points out ticks cause 95% of the vector-borne diseases reported annually in the U.S., and out of 900 species, about 25 are causing the damage.
Interestingly, the author states vector ticks have a well-defined geographic range due mostly to environmental factors; however, this “rule” of thumb” continues to be broken day after day. Plainly stated, ticks that shouldn’t be in certain areas now are. This of course means animals and people are going to be infected.
But to be honest, this “rule of thumb” has been broken repeatedly in the past but because researchers and the CDC stated only certain ticks are in certain locations,people were dismissed and they limped away undiagnosed and untreated and went on to develop severe illness.
“Male ticks that were infected with a pathogen or parasite—(such as Lyme disease spirochetes or Babesia protozoans—previously during their life cycle, by feeding on an infected host, could transmit these pathogens to female ticks during hyperparasitism. Female ticks could then transfer these pathogens or parasites to their progeny by transovarial transmission,” Durden says. “Although we don’t know yet if pathogen or parasite transmission occurs between I. angustus ticks by these mechanisms, if it does occur, this could have epidemiological significance by amplifying the number of infected ticks.”
And lastly, is the fact the CDC/IDSA/NIH STILL hasn’t acknowledged the implication of coinfections to the Lyme/MSIDS picture. People go in, get their 21 days of doxycyline, and very well could be coinfected with things doxy will not kill – Babesia for instance.
