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Emerging Infectious Diseases Nov 2022Anthrax is a priority zoonosis for control in Vietnam. The geographic distribution of anthrax remains to be defined, challenging our ability to target areas for control....
Anthrax is a priority zoonosis for control in Vietnam. The geographic distribution of anthrax remains to be defined, challenging our ability to target areas for control. We analyzed human anthrax cases in Vietnam to obtain anthrax incidence at the national and provincial level. Nationally, the trendline for cases remained at ≈61 cases/year throughout the 26 years of available data, indicating control efforts are not effectively reducing disease burden over time. Most anthrax cases occurred in the Northern Midlands and Mountainous regions, and the provinces of Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, and Son La experienced some of the highest incidence rates. Based on spatial Bayes smoothed maps, every region of Vietnam experienced human anthrax cases during the study period. Clarifying the distribution of anthrax in Vietnam will enable us to better identify risk areas for improved surveillance, rapid clinical care, and livestock vaccination campaigns.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Anthrax; Vietnam; Bayes Theorem; Zoonoses; Livestock; Bacillus anthracis; Disease Outbreaks
PubMed: 36285873
DOI: 10.3201/eid2811.212584 -
British Medical Journal Feb 1973
Topics: Animals; Anthrax; Humans; Occupational Diseases; Sterilization; Wool
PubMed: 4739311
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.1.5848.293-a -
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases... May 2023Specific knowledge on the distribution of anthrax, a zoonosis caused by , in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, remains limited. In this study, we describe disease...
Specific knowledge on the distribution of anthrax, a zoonosis caused by , in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, remains limited. In this study, we describe disease incidence and spatial distribution of human and livestock anthrax using spatially smoothed cumulative incidence from 2004 to 2020 in Cao Bang province, Vietnam. We employed the zonal statistics routine a geographic information system (GIS) using QGIS, and spatial rate smoothing using spatial Bayes smoothing in GeoDa. Results showed higher incidence of livestock anthrax compared with human anthrax. We also identified co-occurrence of anthrax in humans and livestock in northwestern districts and the province center. Livestock anthrax vaccine coverage was <6% and not equally distributed among the districts of Cao Bang province. We provide implications for future studies and recommend improving disease surveillance and response through data sharing between human and animal health sectors.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Anthrax; Incidence; Livestock; Vietnam; Bayes Theorem; Disease Outbreaks; Bacillus anthracis
PubMed: 37140464
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2022.0072 -
Toxins Feb 2022Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium , and is a potential biowarfare/bioterrorist agent. Its pulmonary form, caused by inhalation of the spores, is highly... (Review)
Review
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium , and is a potential biowarfare/bioterrorist agent. Its pulmonary form, caused by inhalation of the spores, is highly lethal and is mainly related to injury caused by the toxins secretion. Antibodies neutralizing the toxins of are regarded as promising therapeutic drugs, and two are already approved by the Federal Drug Administration. We developed a recombinant human-like humanized antibody, 35PA83 6.20, that binds the protective antigen and that neutralized anthrax toxins in-vivo in White New Zealand rabbits infected with the lethal 9602 strain by intranasal route. Considering these promising results, the preclinical and clinical phase one development was funded and a program was started. Unfortunately, after 5 years, the preclinical development was cancelled due to industrial and scientific issues. This shutdown underlined the difficulty particularly, but not only, for an academic laboratory to proceed to clinical development, despite the drug candidate being promising. Here, we review our strategy and some preliminary results, and we discuss the issues that led to the no-go decision of the pre-clinical development of 35PA83 6.20 mAb. Our review provides general information to the laboratories planning a (pre-)clinical development.
Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Animals; Anthrax; Anthrax Vaccines; Antibodies, Bacterial; Antigens, Bacterial; Antitoxins; Bacillus anthracis; Rabbits; Recombinant Proteins; Spores, Bacterial
PubMed: 35324669
DOI: 10.3390/toxins14030172 -
International Journal of Infectious... 2001
Topics: Anthrax; Anxiety; Bacillus anthracis; Bioterrorism; Disease Outbreaks; Humans; USSR; United States
PubMed: 11962347
DOI: 10.1016/s1201-9712(01)90066-9 -
The New England Journal of Medicine Sep 1999
Review
Topics: Anthrax; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacillus anthracis; Diagnosis, Differential; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Glucocorticoids; Humans; Mediastinal Diseases; Meningitis, Bacterial; Mouth Diseases; Pharyngeal Diseases; Skin Diseases, Bacterial; Virulence
PubMed: 10477781
DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199909093411107 -
Microbiology Spectrum Aug 2016To survive adverse conditions, some bacterial species are capable of developing into a cell type, the "spore," which exhibits minimal metabolic activity and remains... (Review)
Review
To survive adverse conditions, some bacterial species are capable of developing into a cell type, the "spore," which exhibits minimal metabolic activity and remains viable in the presence of multiple environmental challenges. For some pathogenic bacteria, this developmental state serves as a means of survival during transmission from one host to another. Spores are the highly infectious form of these bacteria. Upon entrance into a host, specific signals facilitate germination into metabolically active replicating organisms, resulting in disease pathogenesis. In this article, we will review spore structure and function in well-studied pathogens of two genera, Bacillus and Clostridium, focusing on Bacillus anthracis and Clostridium difficile, and explore current data regarding the lifestyles of these bacteria outside the host and transmission from one host to another.
Topics: Animals; Anthrax; Bacillus anthracis; Clostridioides difficile; Clostridium Infections; Humans; Spores, Bacterial
PubMed: 27726794
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.VMBF-0029-2015 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Dec 2017Naturally occurring anthrax disproportionately affects the health and economic welfare of poor, rural communities in anthrax-endemic countries. However, many of these...
Naturally occurring anthrax disproportionately affects the health and economic welfare of poor, rural communities in anthrax-endemic countries. However, many of these countries have limited anthrax prevention and control programs. Effective prevention of anthrax outbreaks among humans is accomplished through routine livestock vaccination programs and prompt response to animal outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses a 2-phase framework when providing technical assistance to partners in anthrax-endemic countries. The first phase assesses and identifies areas for improvement in existing human and animal surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and outbreak response. The second phase provides steps to implement improvements to these areas. We describe examples of implementing this framework in anthrax-endemic countries. These activities are at varying stages of completion; however, the public health impact of these initiatives has been encouraging. The anthrax framework can be extended to other zoonotic diseases to build on these efforts, improve human and animal health, and enhance global health security.
Topics: Anthrax; Bacillus anthracis; Capacity Building; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemics; Health Plan Implementation; Humans; Public Health Surveillance; Vaccination
PubMed: 29155651
DOI: 10.3201/eid2313.170431 -
BMC Public Health Jan 2018Anthrax outbreaks in Tanzania have been reported from the human, livestock and wildlife sectors over several years, and is among the notifiable diseases. Despite... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Anthrax outbreaks in Tanzania have been reported from the human, livestock and wildlife sectors over several years, and is among the notifiable diseases. Despite frequent anthrax outbreaks, there is no comprehensive dataset indicating the magnitude and distribution of the disease in susceptible species. This study is a retrospective review of anthrax outbreaks from the human, livestock, and wildlife surveillance systems from 2006 to 2016. The objectives were to identify hotspot districts, describe anthrax epidemiology in the hotspot areas, evaluate the efficiency of the anthrax response systems and identify potential areas for further observational studies.
METHODS
We prepared a spreadsheet template for a retrospective comprehensive record review at different surveillance levels in Tanzania. We captured data elements including demographic characteristics of different species, the name of health facility, and date of anthrax diagnosis. Also, we collected data on the date of specimen collection, species screened, type of laboratory test, laboratory results and the outcome recorded at the end of treatment in humans. After establishing the database, we produced maps in Quantum GIS software and transferred cleaned data to Stata software for supportive statistical analysis.
RESULTS
Anthrax reported incidences over 4 years in humans were much higher in the Arusha region (7.88/100,000) followed by Kilimanjaro region (6.64/100,000) than other regions of Tanzania Mainland. The health facility based review from hotspot districts in parts of Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions from 2006 to 2016, identified 330 human anthrax cases from the selected health facilities in the two regions. Out of 161 livestock and 57 wildlife specimen tested, 103 and 18 respectively, were positive for anthrax.
CONCLUSION
This study revealed that there is gross under-reporting in the existing surveillance systems which is an obstacle for estimating a true burden of anthrax in the hotspot districts. Repeated occurrences of anthrax in livestock, wildlife and humans in the same locations at the same time calls for the need to strengthen links and promote inter-disciplinary and multi-sectoral collaboration to enhance prevention and control measures under a One Health approach.
Topics: Animal Diseases; Animals; Animals, Wild; Anthrax; Disease Outbreaks; Humans; Livestock; Population Surveillance; Retrospective Studies; Tanzania
PubMed: 29304765
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-5007-z -
Journal of Infection and Public Health Aug 2020Bacillus anthracis infects both humans and animals which leads to anthrax disease. The disease is still a global issue as it occurs naturally and has a potential use for...
BACKGROUND
Bacillus anthracis infects both humans and animals which leads to anthrax disease. The disease is still a global issue as it occurs naturally and has a potential use for bioterrorism/bio-weapons agents. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and epidemiologic features of human anthrax that has been seen in Kyrgyzstan.
METHODS
This study was carried out at the Osh Regional Hospital that is located in the southern regions of Kyrgyz Republic. Medical records of patient's diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax between 2005 and 2015 were reviewed. Epidemiology and clinical features of the infection and the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy were investigated.
RESULTS
Two hundred thirty four anthrax cases were reviewed. Among the patients, men in the 31-50 age group prevailed. Infection episodes that sought medical attention occurred mostly during the summer and autumn. Analysis of epidemiological data shows that anthrax contamination occurred as a result of direct contact with mainly farm animals, slaughtering, butchering and the selling of the meat. Cutaneous lesions were localized mostly in the upper extremities. Among the observed patients, a majority of the cases presented a mild form of the disease. The isolated strains of B. anthracis were mostly susceptible to amoxiclav, ofloxacin, 3rd generation of cephalosporins, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin, penicillin and streptomycin. A majority of the isolates were found to be resistant to ampicillin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol.
CONCLUSION
Anthrax is still an endemic disease that has lead to outbreaks in the Kyrgyz Republic. The transmission of human infection is seen by direct contact with ill animals or dead animal products. The common form seen in the clinical setting is cutaneous anthrax. Future studies should focus on the surveillance and infection control measurements associated with the anthrax.
Topics: Adult; Agriculture; Animals; Anthrax; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacillus anthracis; Female; Humans; Kyrgyzstan; Male; Middle Aged; Risk Factors; Skin Diseases, Bacterial
PubMed: 32276875
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.02.043