Critical reviews in microbiology
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Accounts of drinking water-borne disease outbreaks have always captured the interest of the public, elected and health officials, and the media. During the twentieth century, the drinking water community and public health organizations have endeavored to craft regulations and guidelines on treatment and management practices that reduce risks from drinking water, specifically human pathogens. ⋯ These misunderstanding or "myths" have led to confusion among the many stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to provide a scientific- and clinically-based discussion of these "myths" and recommendations for better ensuring the microbial safety of drinking water and valid public health decisions.
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Crit. Rev. Microbiol. · Aug 2010
ReviewEmergence of viral diseases: mathematical modeling as a tool for infection control, policy and decision making.
Mathematical modeling can be used for the development and implementation of infection control policy to combat outbreaks and epidemics of communicable viral diseases. Here an outline is provided of basic concepts and approaches used in mathematical modeling and parameterization of disease transmission. The use of mathematical models is illustrated, using the 2001 UK foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic, the 2003 global severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, and human influenza pandemics, as examples. This provides insights in the strengths, limitations, and weaknesses of the various models, and demonstrates their potential for supporting policy and decision making.
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Crit. Rev. Microbiol. · Jan 1998
Review Historical ArticleThe application of the UNSCOM experience to international biological arms control. United Nations Special Commission.
The activities of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), which has investigated Iraq's biological weapons program, is presented as a model for international arms control. A detailed first-hand description and evaluation of UNSCOM's activities shows that its success depended on the quality of the inspectors and their human intelligence capacity. Discrepancies in Iraq's extensive and well-concealed biological weapons program was the key to revelation of the extent of the Iraqi biological weapons program. Each step in UNSCOM's painstaking investigation of the Iraqi program is discussed.
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Blastomycosis is the infection caused by the dimorphic fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis. The fungus was believed to be limited in distribution to North America but is found in Africa and northern South America, too. The exact natural habitat of B. dermatitidis is still uncertain with only rare reported isolation of the fungus from the environment. ⋯ An accidental laboratory infection and several common source epidemics have enabled us to recognize that blastomycosis may be a self-limited pulmonary infection. Endogenous reactivation and opportunistic infections have been newly appreciated as clinical presentations of blastomycosis. This report will review blastomycosis with particular emphasis on these recent developments.