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Vol. IV,
No. 11 ~ EINet News Briefs ~ July 9, 2001
****A free service of the
APEC Emerging Infections Network*****
The EINet listserv
was created to foster discussion, networking, and collaboration in the
area of emerging infectious diseases (EID's) among academicians, scientists,
and policy makers in the Asia–Pacific region. We strongly encourage you
to share their perspectives and experiences, as your participation directly
contributes to the richness of the "electronic discussions" that occur.
To respond to the listserv, use the reply function.
In this edition:
- Infectious disease information
- Notices
- Journal Articles
- How to join the EINet listserv
1. OVERVIEW
OF INFECTIOUS–DISEASE INFORMATION
Below is a bi–monthly summary of Asia–Pacific emerging infectious diseases.
ASIA
JAPAN – BRUCELLOSIS
IN ZOO ANIMALS AND HUMANS
Five Kawasaki city zookeepers were infected with brucellosis, a rare
infectious disease that is transmitted through contact with infected
animals or animal products. One of the employees was sent to the hospital
with pneumonia. The zookeepers are believed to have been infected while
assisting in the delivery of a baby moose, during which time they may
have come into contact with contaminated fluids. The Kawasaki Municipal
Government shut down the facility in order to investigate the outbreak.
Thus far, a goat in the zoo has been confirmed to have the infection.
Brucellosis
is caused by infection with the bacteria of the genus Brucella
and can cause disease in a number of different vertebrates. In humans,
it can cause a range of symptoms from mild flu–like illness to severe
infection of the central nervous system or lining of the heart.
[PROMED 6/25/01; CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/brucellosis_g.htm]
SINGAPORE
– MALARIA CASES
A 71–year–old woman died and two others in a nearby condominium were
hospitalized in late June after contracting malaria in Singapore. No
new cases of malaria have been reported, and the 45–year–old man and
his 8–year–old daughter who had been infected were discharged from the
hospital. Officials from the Environment Ministry conducted blood tests
on residents of condominiums in the Upper Changi Road East area and
screened foreign construction workers. In addition, all potential breeding
habitats of Anopheles mosquitoes, which are
responsible for transmitting malaria, were destroyed, and the condominium
management fumigated their premises to kill adult mosquitoes.
Residents have been advised to take precautions against mosquito bites
and to seek medical care immediately if they develop a fever.
[THE STRAITS TIMES 6/28/01, http://www.straitstimes.asia1.com.sg;
PRESS RELEASE, MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT, http://www.env.gov.sg]
AMERICAS
BRAZIL – IMPORTED
MEASLES CASE
A 7–month–old child, who had not been vaccinated against measles,
is believed to have contracted measles while in Japan just prior
to her return to Brazil. The infant is considered to have been infectious
during her return trip on June 16, when she and four family members
flew from Japan to Sao Paulo, Brazil, with a stopover in Los Angeles.
The infant was taken to her private pediatrician on June 18, who
suspected measles and
notified the health post of the Municipal Health Secretariat of
Sao Paulo. The infant later tested positive for measles IgM antibodies.
An epidemiologic investigation was initiated on June 19. All household
residents and other family contacts without documentation of measles
vaccination or natural disease were vaccinated. The state surveillance
services contacted all passengers and crew resident in Brazil. This
is the first confirmed case of measles in Brazil for 2001.
[PROMED 6/27/01, 6/29/01]
U.S. (NEW MEXICO,
COLORADO) – INCREASED PLAGUE ACTIVITY
The Colorado Health Department is urging residents to avoid certain
areas because of a recent die–off of prairie dogs, which may suggest
increased Bubonic Plague activity. Prairie dogs often serve as sentinel
animals because of their high susceptibility to the infectious organism,
Yersinia pestis. Health Department officials are investigating
the areas southeast of the Colorado Springs airport, where a prairie
dog colony is believed to have become infected with Bubonic Plague.
Plague is an animal–borne disease that is often transmitted to other
animals and humans through the bite of an infected flea. While it
can be life threatening, it is easily treated with antibiotics.
Residents are advised to keep their pets away from the areas, since
pets can acquire the infection and transmit it to people they come
into contact with. There have been confirmed cases of plague in
animals in northwestern Pueblo County and Arapahoe County, but no
human cases have been reported.
In New Mexico, a 21–year–old
man in Santa Fe County is the first person in the state to contract
the infection this year. The man has been hospitalized and should
recover following treatment with antibiotics. State health officials
are investigating his home in order to identify the source of the
infection.
[PRESS RELEASE, EL PASO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
6/18/01; PROMED 6/30/01]
U.S. (CA) – ASIAN
TIGER MOSQUITOES IMPORTED INTO CALIFORNIA
Asian tiger mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus, were inadvertently introduced
into Southern California in June when they arrived in shipments
of an ornamental plant of the Dracaena species referred to
as lucky bamboo. The plants were sent from South China, where they
were packed in about two inches of water and sent by ship to the
United States. The U.S. has received shipments of the ornamental
plant from China, Taiwan,
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and other countries for
at least three years without associated mosquito infestation or
standing water. While Asian tiger mosquitoes have been imported
into the U.S. for over ten years, largely in used vehicle tires,
they had not been observed previously on the West Coast. From this
shipment, the mosquitoes have only been found in Los Angeles, where
mosquitoes flew out of a shipment when agricultural inspectors opened
it. However, shipments of the plant were also sent to San Francisco
and Seattle.
Asian tiger mosquitoes
have been known to transmit diseases, such as western equine encephalitis,
St. Louis encephalitis, and dengue viruses. In 2000, West Nile virus
was isolated from this species in Pennsylvania. Because of the potentially
serious public health threats that the introduction of exotic species
of mosquitoes presents, the CDC has placed an embargo on the importation
of Dracaena shipments in standing water that is
effective immediately. More information about Aedes albopictus
can be found on the CDC's website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/arbor/albopic_new.htm.
[PROMED 7/2/01]
2. NOTICES
PLEASE HELP!! NOMINATE
ASIA PACIFIC–BASED DISEASE SURVEILLANCE NETWORKS!
APEC is committed to a network of networks strategy to enhance disease
alert and surveillance activity in our region. PLEASE HELP! Nominate by
July 30th any regional or national Asia Pacific–based networks for disease
alert or surveillance that you have found helpful in your work. These
include electronic networks other than EINet that you use to obtain disease
alert and surveillance information, such as those related to HIV/AIDS
or microbial resistance, etc. Please send this information, including
the names of principal contacts, to apecein@u.washington.edu.
Your help is greatly appreciated.
HONG KONG AIDS CONFERENCE
2001
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service will be hosting the international
Hong Kong AIDS Conference 2001 to be held August 27㪵, 2001. The overall
theme for the conference is Towards Greater Community Involvement, and
there will be special emphasis on the following sub–themes: policy and
strategies, care and acceptance, preventive education and interventions,
clinical service and public health, and cultural
and social response. The Keynote Speakers will be Dr. Helene Gayle, Director
for the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention at the CDC, and
Professor Zeng Yi, President of the Chinese Foundation for the Prevention
of STDs and AIDS. Further information is available at the following website:
http://www.hkcss.org.hk/file/ira/main/aidsconference.
U.S. – FLU VACCINE DELAY
EXPECTED
U.S. federal health officials predicted that the distribution of the influenza
vaccine will be delayed again this year, although not to the same degree
as occurred last year. The CDC stated in an announcement that 64 percent
of the expected distribution should be available by the end of October,
about twice the amount available at the same time last year, and the remaining
doses should be available in November and December. This year’s expected
delay has been attributed to the reduction in the number of licensed U.S.
manufacturers of the vaccine, which decreased from four in 1999 to three
in 2000. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends
that healthcare providers reserve the early doses for individuals at high
risk and healthcare workers. They also recommend that mass immunization
campaigns be postponed until late October or November.
[REUTERS 6/22/01, http://www.reutershealth.com]
U.S. – GROUND BEEF AND
PORK RECALL DUE TO E. COLI CONTAMINATION
The Excel Corporation of Newnan, Georgia, has voluntarily recalled about
190,000 pound of fresh ground beef and pork due to E. coli contamination.
According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, three children became
ill after eating the potentially contaminated meat. Samples of the meat
obtained from one of the households where children became ill tested positive
for E. coli 0157:H7. The children have since
recovered. The recalled meat was produced on May 23 and 24 and distributed
to Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Federal food safety inspectors are urging Kroger shoppers in the five
states to check the meat in their freezers for ground beef or pork marked
with the sell–by date of June 1st or 2nd, 2001, and the number “86G”.
Customers who may have frozen some of the recalled meat products are urged
to return it to the Kroger store.
[REUTERS HEALTH 6/26/01; PROMED 6/28/01]
3. JOURNAL
ARTICLES
NEW METHOD MAY IMPROVE
DIAGNOSTIC TESTING FOR BSE
Researchers at the Serono Pharmaceutical Institute in Switzerland have
developed a method to amplify in vitro the concentration of prions, the
infectious agents thought to be responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE). Prions are abnormally shaped proteins that cause healthy brain
proteins to assume their irregular shape, ultimately resulting in sponge–like
holes in the brain. At the time of infection and before the
manifestation of symptoms, only minute amounts of the abnormal proteins
are present in the brain tissue of the infected host. Current diagnostic
tools are limited in their ability to detect the presence of prions during
the pre–symptomatic period. Consequently, most transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies (TSE’s) are diagnosed by examining brain tissue at the
time of an autopsy.
In this study, Dr. Gabriela
Saborio and colleagues mixed prions from infected hamster brains in a
test tube with normal brain proteins from uninfected hamsters. This experiment
was designed to mimic in vitro that which is thought to occur in infected
tissue. An ultrasound technique of cyclic amplification showed that more
than 97 percent of the misshapen proteins corresponded to the in vitro
converted normal proteins. The
authors state that their findings suggest a strategy for detecting small
amounts of the infectious agent by amplifying undetectable amounts to
a detectable level. While it is not clear whether prions circulate in
the bloodstream of those infected, the authors suggest that this strategy
could be applied to non–brain sources where prions are shown to be present.
[NATURE 2001;411;810𤴝]
ACUTE ENCEPHALOPATHY WITHOUT
RASH IN INDIA DUE TO MEASLES
The analysis of a recent outbreak in northern India that involved a fever,
altered sensorium, and seizures provides strong evidence that this outbreak
was associated with measles virus infection. Researchers from the National
Institute of Virology in Pune conducted serologic and viral culture studies
of 22 of 51 children referred with fever of unknown origin in Chandigarh.
Tests for IgM antibodies using ELISA in serum and
cerebrospinal fluid were positive for 17 of 28 samples tested. Measles
virus was isolated in six samples using vero cell cultures on all specimens.
The CDC confirmed two of the samples as measles by reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction. Although the results suggest measles as the
causative agent, the severity of the illness, the absence of exposure
to measles, the absence of a rash, and the occurrence of the outbreak
in seasons uncommon for measles are unusual in measles outbreaks. The
researchers state that acute encephalopathy without rash is one of many
neurologic manifestations associated with measles, and has occurred frequently
in India. They also state that studies are underway to identify the strains
of measles virus that have been involved in recent outbreaks in India.
[INDIAN PEDIATRICS 2001;38:589𤱃 MEDSCAPE, http://www.medscape.com]
4. JOIN THE E–LIST AND RECEIVE EINet NEWS BRIEFS REGULARLY
The APEC EINet listserv was established to enhance collaboration among
academicians and public health professionals in the area of emerging infections
surveillance and control. Subscribers are encouraged to share their material
with colleagues in the Asia–Pacific Rim. To subscribe (or unsubscribe),
please contactmailto:nwc@u.washington.edu. Further
information about the APEC Emerging Infections Network is available at
http://www.apec.org/infectious.
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