Doctors and veterinarians are reporting that there has been a massive outbrake of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Michigan.

With hunting season now approaching, the CWD positive tests on a Kent County farm have created concern among hunters, outdoor enthusiasts and deer farmers across the great state of Michigan.

The deer hunting industry in Michigan is working to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease and is cooperating fully with both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources to bring a swift and conclusive resolution to this difficult situation, according to a statement issued by the industry.  

The Cervid Farmers of Michigan, Michigan Deer and Elk Breeders Association, North American Deer Farmers Association, along with regulatory state agencies continuously work together to make sure deer farms and wildlife in Michigan are CWD free. The recent incident only serves to reaffirm our resolve to stop the spread of chronic wasting disease.

With more than 600 deer farms under quarantine right now, the entire industry is at a standstill. Deer farming, as a regulated alternative livestock industry is a $1 billion industry in Michigan and it is a vital part of the state’s agriculture community.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director, and Nancy Bruening, Managing Editor

Chronic disease haunts deer population.

Posted: August 29th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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Doctors from an assisted living facility in Rochester, N.Y.  indicated they have discovered an isolated case of legionnaire’s disease. The disease has been discovered at the Heather Heights facility on West Jefferson Road in Pittsford, according to news reports.

Since the resident had recently been outside the facility, officials are not sure if the legionnaire’s was acquired in the facility or in the community.

The health department is reviewing the case, but so far no special restrictions have been implemented at Heather Heights.

The patient who has legionnaire’s has been hospitalized since Wednesday.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Legionnaire’s disease.

Posted: August 29th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Legionnaires' Disease.
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Last year in the U.K., 8,324 people died either from C. difficile or were infected with it, an increase of 28 percent in one year.

The infection is connected to more than four times more deaths than in 2001 when there were 1,804 deaths, data from the Office of National Statistics demonstrate.

There has been a slight drop of 3.6 per cent in deaths either directly from MRSA or linked to it to reach 1,593.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said the “vast majority” of these deaths could have been avoided with better prescribing of antibiotics and proper isolation of infected patients.

The Labour Party is encouraging hospitals to more quickly process patients, leaving more time for cleaning patient areas between treatments.

The information is collected from death certificates.

In recent years,  physicians have been encouraged by the Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson to cite hospital infections on death certificates.

Levin Wheller, the  author of the report, said it was not possible to say whether the increase was due to more complete reporting on death certificates or poor infection control in hospitals.

C.diff is mainly a disease that affects the elderly who have been in hospital for other reasons and who have received broad spectrum antibiotics.

According to Dr. Brian Duerden, inspector of microbiology and infection control at Department of Health, the government has taken significant steps to tackle infections, including C difficile. “These include stringent hand-washing guidance for the NHS, clear guidance on appropriate antibiotic prescribing and the clinical care of patients with C. difficile. Cases of MRSA and C. difficile infections are falling and for the first time we are seeing the number of recorded deaths from MRSA falling too,” he added.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Hospital visits can kill you.

Posted: August 28th, 2008 under Clostridium difficile, Developing Diseases.
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A new study published online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology, risk of transmitting bovine spongiform encephalopathy — commonly known as “mad cow disease” — by blood transfusion is surprisingly high.

This disease is a rare neurodegenerative disorders called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). There is no reliable non-invasive test for detecting infection before the onset of clinical disease.

A new version of CJD (termed vCJD) was recognized in the U.K. in the mid-1990s, as a result of the transmission of the disease to humans. The symptoms of this disease can take many years to appear, it was not known how many people might have been infected, and without a reliable test for identifying these individuals.

Experience control measures were introduced as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of disease transmission, though at the time it was unclear whether there really was a significant risk or whether the control measures would be effective. This sheep study sought to understand how readily TSEs could be transmitted by blood transfusion in order to help develop more targeted controls.

“It is vitally important that we better understand the mechanisms of disease transmission during blood transfusions so we can develop the most effective control measures and minimize human-to-human infections,” said Dr. Fiona Houston, a professor of veterinary medicine, University of Glasgow, UK, author of the study.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: August 28th, 2008 under Diseases, Mad Cow Disease.
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Residents of New York City are more rapidly becoming infected with HIV than the rest of America. The rate of infection in the city is three times the national rate, the city’s health department reported this week.

Working with a new statistical model for tracking new infections developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, city health officials estimated that 72 out of every 100,000 New Yorkers contracted HIV in 2006. That compares to 23 out of every 100,000 individuals around the country.

All told, 4,800 New Yorkers became infected with HIV, including 3,863 New York City residents, during the last year.

The federal government’s new model uses a technology to analyze blood samples to determine if an HIV infection is recent or has been ongoing.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Bright lights, big city HIV problem.

Posted: August 27th, 2008 under Diseases, HIV.
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A little boy in Utah is slowly recovering from ”rabbit fever,” a rare infection. The disease is properly known as tularemia, an affliction which can be transmitted by flies, mosquitoes, and ticks. The disease can also be spread by contact with infected animals or eating undercooked meat, or inhaled.  Nearly 200 people are infected with the disease each year in the U.S.  Another Utah case has been reported so far this year, in Iron County.  Last year, 17 people in Utah were afflicted with the dreaded disease, sparking an investigation by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC investigated that outbreak.
   

That case came from a horsefly. That creature bit 10-year-old Darrell Oleson when he was fishing with his father and brother on July 5. Oleson was hospitalized with a high fever and ultimately had surgery to remove infected lymph nodes in his neck.  The child’s parents said he was recently released from the hospital and won’t be allowed to go to school for up to two months.
   

Symptoms of the disease generally appear within three to five days after infection and include swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, and a skin ulcer at the wound site.   

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: August 27th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said this week that it is investigating the developers of Tysabri to update the label of the multiple sclerosis drug. The new labeling will reflect two cases of a serious brain infection diagnosed a few weeks ago in patients taking the medicine. The agency’s announcement also included language that should come as a relief to patients, some of whom have worried that the new cases of the infection — progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) — could create regulatory problems for the drug.

The drug was removed from the U.S. market a few years ago when three patients developed PML, a rare and potentially deadly brain infection. The drug was reintroduced under a strict safety program that prohibits patients from taking Tysabri while they are taking other drugs that may also weaken the immune system.

Both new cases were found in Europe. The first patient had previously taken other MS drugs; the other patient had not.

But in its alert released late yesterday, the FDA said it “still believes that Tysabri” taken alone “may confer a lower risk of PML” than when the drug is taken with other medicines that alter the immune system.

Combined with the news of the label change, the news suggests the two new cases may not have a major effect on the drug’s regulatory status in the U.S.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Posted: August 26th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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Amniotic fluid infections are much more common than earlier believed and may be a major cause of premature births, says a study led by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Nearly 12 percent of all births in the U.S. are premature, and the frequency of premature birth is increasing, according to researchers.

The Stanford doctors analyzed the amniotic fluid from 166 women in pre-term labor and found that 15 percent of the samples contained bacteria or fungi, compared to previous estimates of 10 percent. Some of the bacteria and fungi found in the samples hadn’t been suspected of playing a major role in pre-term birth.

Women with the highest degree of amniotic fluid infection were most likely to deliver more premature, sicker infants, the doctors said.

“To find that this amniotic compartment, which we have traditionally viewed as somewhat sacrosanct, is infected significantly more often than we thought is a little shocking,” author Dr. David Relman, a professor of infectious disease and of microbiology and immunology, said.

The study was published in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal PLoS-ONE.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director, and Nancy Bruening, Managing Editor

Posted: August 26th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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A letter warning physicians in Vancouver Island, Canada, to be on “high alert” for patients with symptoms of listeria is being disseminated this week in connection with the deadly listeriosis outbreak.

The outbreak was linked to the death of four people including one person on Vancouver Island.

The letter tells doctors to watch for symptoms associated with listeriosis - often flu-like and possibly including nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, high fever, severe headache, and a stiff neck.

The letters tells doctors to maintain “a high index of suspicion for this organism,” said medical health officer Dr. Lorna Medd, of the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

This girds doctors to prepare for patients who might require testing for listeria, Dr. Medd said.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

Listeria outbreak worrying to health officials in Canada.

Posted: August 25th, 2008 under Diseases, Listeria.
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The California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, is this week holding a reception at the Democratic Convention in honor of the 92 members of the Congressional HR 676 Caucus and the Democratic nominee for president of the U.S., Barack Hussein Obama.  

The meeting is set for Tuesday, August 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Ballroom at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colo.

“Speakers will include CNA/NNOC co-president Deborah Burger, RN; Greg Junemann, Chair of HR 676 Labor Caucus and President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Dr. Claudia Fegan, past President of Physicians for a National Health Program; and other special guests,” according to a statement provided to Infection Protection.

Interesting to note that in Canada — where socialized medicine is practiced — health care professionals abhor the system and want the government to transition to a fee-for-service system, as in the U.S. Obama, whose citizenship status is now being questioned in a federal court case in Philadelphia, case number 2:08cv04083, also supports socializing medicine like many foreign countries have done.

– by the Editors

Obama meets with nurses.

Posted: August 25th, 2008 under Developing Diseases, Impaired Immunity.
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