PLoS neglected tropical diseases
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Zika virus (ZIKV), first isolated in Uganda in 1947, is currently spreading rapidly through South America and the Caribbean. In Brazil, infection has been linked with microcephaly and other serious complications, leading to declaration of a public health emergency of international concern; however, there currently are only limited data on the virus (and its possible sources and manifestations) in the Caribbean. ⋯ ZIKV epidemics in South America, as well as in Africa, show complex dissemination patterns. The virus appears to have been circulating in Haiti prior to the first reported cases in Brazil. Factors contributing to transmission and the possible linkage of this early Haitian outbreak with microcephaly remain to be determined.
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Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), a tick-borne phlebovirus in family Bunyaviridae. Studies have found that humans, domestic and wildlife animals can be infected by SFTSV. However, the viral ecology, circulation, and transmission remain largely unknown. ⋯ The detection of SFTSV-RNA in non-engorged larvae indicated that vertical transmission of SFTSV in H. longicornis might occur in nature, which suggests that H. longicornis is a putative reservoir host of SFTSV. Small wild mammals such as Erinaceus europaeus and Sorex araneus could be infected by SFTSV and may serve as natural amplifying hosts. Our data unveiled that wild birds could be infected with SFTSV or carry SFTSV-infected ticks and thus might contribute to the long-distance spread of SFTSV via migratory flyways. These findings provide novel insights for understanding SFTSV ecology, reservoir hosts, and transmission in nature and will help develop new measures in preventing its rapid spread both regionally and globally.
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A 26 year-old female patient presented to the Tropical Medicine outpatient unit of the Ludwig Maximilians-University in Munich with febrile illness after returning from Southern Africa, where she contracted a bite by a large mite-like arthropod, most likely a soft-tick. Spirochetes were detected in Giemsa stained blood smears and treatment was started with doxycycline for suspected tick-borne relapsing fever. The patient eventually recovered after developing a slight Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction during therapy. ⋯ Fragments of the uvrA gene revealed genetic distance of 0.086 to B. hermsii in genetic analysis and only distant relations with classic Old World relapsing fever species. This revealed the presence of a novel species of tick-borne relapsing fever spirochetes that we propose to name "Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica", as it was contracted from an arthropod bite in the Kalahari Desert belonging to both, Botswana and Namibia, a region where to our knowledge no relapsing fever has been described so far. Interestingly, the novel species shows more homology to New World relapsing fever Borrelia such as B. parkeri or B. hermsii than to known Old World species such as B. duttonii or B. crocidurae.
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In 2012 the World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA65.21 on elimination of schistosomiasis, calling for increased investment in schistosomiasis control and support for countries to initiate elimination programs. This study aims to analyze prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection in children in Latin America and the Caribbean countries and territories (LAC), at the second administrative level or lower. ⋯ There is a need for updating the schistosomiasis status in the historically endemic countries and territories in LAC to address the required public health interventions for control and elimination programs or to verify the elimination of transmission of Schistosoma mansoni. Improved reporting and standardization of the monitoring and evaluation methodologies used are recommended, while using available WHO guidelines. Meeting a regional elimination goal will require additional and improved epidemiological data by age group and sex.