Publications by authors named "Byarugaba D"

The rapid emergence of antimicrobial-resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae threatens treatment options and control efforts. The Uniformed Services University Gonococcal Reference Laboratory and Repository of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance Program receives isolates from several geographically distinct regions worldwide. We analyzed 962 isolates collected during 2014-2022 for genomic and phenotypic antimicrobial resistance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Surveillance in Kenya, Uganda, and Jordan found dangerous multidrug-resistant bacterial clones, specifically certain types of E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
  • The study identified notable sequence types like E. coli ST131 and Klebsiella ST14 that are resistant to multiple antibiotics.
  • The variety of resistance mechanisms seen in these clones poses a significant threat to public health and effective treatment options.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sweetpotato ( L.) is an essential food crop globally, especially for farmers facing resource limitations. Like other crops, sweetpotato cultivation faces significant production challenges due to viral infections.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The bacterium , with a genome size of 3.4 Mb, was isolated from a pus swab of a wound on the left lower limb above the ankle joint of a female patient. This strain carries the antimicrobial resistance genes cephalosporinase , oxallinase , , and and other resistance and virulence genes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The evolution of antimicrobial resistance has dramatically reduced the efficacy of the first-choice and last-resort antibiotics used to treat infections. Thus, searching for novel therapeutics to treat and control the emergence of antibiotic resistance is urgent. Therefore, this study aimed to illustrate the lytic effect of phages against carbapenem-resistant pathogenic .

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Coxiella burnetii is a highly infectious organism that is easily spread through aerosols causing Q fever in humans. Ticks can harbour and transmit C. burnetii to animals, contributing to disease maintenance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

bacteria are pathogenic among immune-compromised individuals. A strain (MUWRP0921) of with a genome of 2,708,354 bp was isolated from Uganda and carries genes that are associated with antibiotic resistance, including resistance to macrolides () and )), aminoglycosides ()), tetracyclines ()), and trimethoprim ().

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

is a threat to public health due to its continued evolution. In this study, we investigated the evolution, convergence, and transmission of hypervirulent and multi-drug resistant (MDR) clones of within healthcare facilities in Uganda. There was high resistance to piperacillin (90.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) globally disseminated extraintestinal pathogenic high-risk Escherichia coli (ExPEC) clones are threatening the gains in bacterial disease management. In this study, we evaluated the genomic structure including the resistome and virulome of the E. coli isolates from extraintestinal infections using whole genome sequencing (WGS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Commensal with broad repertoire of virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes pose serious public health risks as reservoirs of AMR and virulence. This study undertook whole genome characterization of commensal from food-producing animals in Uganda to investigate their genome variability (resistome and virulome). We established that the had high genomic diversity with 38 sequence types, 24 FimH types, and 33 O-antigen serotypes randomly distributed within three phylogroups (A, B1, and E).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rickettsia microorganisms are causative agents of several neglected emerging infectious diseases in humans transmitted by arthropods including ticks. In this study, ticks were collected from four geographical regions of Uganda and pooled in sizes of 1-179 ticks based on location, tick species, life stage, host, and time of collection. Then, they were tested by real-time PCR for Rickettsia species with primers targeting gltA, 17kDa and ompA genes, followed by Sanger sequencing of the 17kDa and ompA genes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) are a diverse group of viruses causing a broad range of infections of the respiratory, urogenital and gastrointestinal tracts and keratoconjunctivitis. There are seven species of human adenoviruses with 113 genotypes which may contain multiple genetic variants. This study characterised respiratory human adenoviruses and associated factors in samples collected from selected hospitals in Uganda.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing Escherichia coli are a leading cause of infections in hospital and community settings. Based on samples from two hospitals in Uganda and households of inpatients we tested the hypothesis that ESBL E. coli and/or their resistance determinants could spread within the healthcare and community settings through discharged patients that were still colonized.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rotavirus genotypes are species specific. However, interspecies transmission is reported to result in the emergence of new genotypes. A cross-sectional study of 242 households with 281 cattle, 418 goats, 438 pigs, and 258 humans in Uganda was undertaken between 2013 and 2014.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report a genome sequence of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica strain MUWRP0946, isolated from a hospitalized patient in Uganda. The genome size was 2.08 million bases, and the genome completeness was 94.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are a major health risk in both military and civilian contexts, heavily impacting low- and middle-income countries due to economic losses and tick management challenges.
  • A study in Uganda's Cattle Corridor identified 4,425 hard ticks across seven species, with significant variations in species abundance and distribution based on season and location.
  • The research found that while seasonality and location affected the prevalence of ticks, the overall infection rate of rickettsial pathogens remained consistent, highlighting the need for targeted tick management strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A (H9N2) avian influenza A viruses were first detected in Uganda in 2017 and have since established themselves in live bird markets. The aim of this study was to establish the subsequent genetic evolution of H9N2 viruses in Uganda. Cloacal samples collected from live bird market stalls in Kampala from 2017 to 2019 were screened by RT-PCR for influenza A virus and H9N2 viruses were isolated in embryonated eggs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Farm and wild animals may serve as reservoirs of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria of human health relevance. We investigated the occurrence and genomic characteristics of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria in Ugandan chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) residing in two environments with or without close contact to humans. The ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated from fecal material of chimpanzees from Budongo Forest and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda and were more commonly isolated from chimpanzees in Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where animals have close contact with humans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The greatest challenge of the current generation and generations to come is antimicrobial resistance, as different pathogenic bacteria have continuously evolved to become resistant to even the most recently synthesized antibiotics such as carbapenems. Resistance to carbapenems limits the therapeutic options of MDR infections as they are the only safe and effective drugs recommended to treat such infections. This scenario has complicated treatment outcomes, even to the commonest bacterial infections.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Influenza D virus (IDV) was first identified in pigs in Oklahoma in 2011 and primarily affects ruminants like cattle.
  • The study focused on testing domestic ruminants and pigs in West and East Africa for IDV seropositivity from 2017 to 2020, finding significant circulation of the virus in the region.
  • Cattle showed the highest levels of seropositivity (ranging from 3.9% to 20.9%), indicating a need for more extensive surveillance to understand IDV's epidemiology in Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Uganda is a Newcastle disease (ND) endemic country where the disease is controlled by vaccination using live LaSota (genotype II) and I (genotype I) vaccine strains. Resurgent outbreak episodes call for an urgent need to understand the antigenic diversity of circulating wild (AAvV1) strains. High mutation rates and the continuous emergence of genetic and antigenic variants that evade immunity make non-segmented RNA viruses difficult to control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Human coronaviruses are causative agents of respiratory infections with several subtypes being prevalent worldwide. They cause respiratory illnesses of varying severity and have been described to be continuously emerging but their prevalence is not well documented in Uganda. This study assessed the seroprevalence of antibodies against the previously known human coronaviruses prior 2019 in Uganda.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aquaculture is the fastest food-producing sector in the world, accounting for one-third of global food production. As is the case with all intensive farming systems, increase in infectious diseases has adversely impacted the growth of marine fish farming worldwide. Viral diseases cause high economic losses in marine aquaculture.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genetic analysis of circulating avian influenza viruses (AIVs) in wild birds at different geographical regions during the same period could improve our knowledge about virus transmission dynamics in natural hosts, virus evolution as well as zoonotic potential. Here, we report the genetic and molecular characterization of H6N2 influenza viruses isolated from migratory birds in Turkey, Egypt, and Uganda during 2017-2018. The Egyptian and Turkish isolates were genetically closer to each other than they were to the virus isolated from Uganda.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and SARS-CoV-2 are not phylogenetically closely related; however, both use the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor in humans for cell entry. This is not a universal sarbecovirus trait; for example, many known sarbecoviruses related to SARS-CoV-1 have two deletions in the receptor binding domain of the spike protein that render them incapable of using human ACE2. Here, we report three sequences of a novel sarbecovirus from Rwanda and Uganda that are phylogenetically intermediate to SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 and demonstrate via in vitro studies that they are also unable to utilize human ACE2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF