Publications by authors named "George Churchwell"
In 2022, concurrent outbreaks of hepatitis A, invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), and mpox were identified in Florida, USA, primarily among men who have sex with men. The hepatitis A outbreak (153 cases) was associated with hepatitis A virus genotype IA. The IMD outbreak (44 cases) was associated with Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C, sequence type 11, clonal complex 11.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 2022 multicountry mpox outbreak concurrent with the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic further highlighted the need for genomic surveillance and rapid pathogen whole-genome sequencing. While metagenomic sequencing approaches have been used to sequence many of the early mpox infections, these methods are resource intensive and require samples with high viral DNA concentrations. Given the atypical clinical presentation of cases associated with the outbreak and uncertainty regarding viral load across both the course of infection and anatomical body sites, there was an urgent need for a more sensitive and broadly applicable sequencing approach.
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- The 2022 monkeypox outbreak amid the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the essential need for improved genomic surveillance and rapid whole genome sequencing methods.
- Traditional metagenomic sequencing requires high viral DNA samples and is resource-intensive, prompting the development of a more sensitive approach using PrimalSeq, originally designed for Zika virus, now adapted for monkeypox.
- Findings showed that amplicon-based sequencing resulted in better genome coverage, especially in samples with lower viral loads, leading to a recommendation of using samples with PCR cycle thresholds below 31 Ct to optimize sequencing efforts.
Article Synopsis
- Bacillus cereus isolates, like B. cereus G9241, can carry Bacillus anthracis toxin genes and cause serious infections, including pneumonia.
- The new isolate BcFL2013 has been linked to a skin lesion similar to anthrax and shares significant genetic similarities with G.9241, including specific toxin genes and multi-locus sequence types.
- This study is the first to report on blood tests from patients infected with this B. cereus strain, revealing the presence of anthrax toxins and an immune response against them.
The inactivation of smears that contain Mycobacterium tuberculosis for microscopy before removal of the material from a biosafety cabinet is an important safety factor in preventing the potential transmission of tuberculosis to laboratory workers. The fixing and inactivating properties of heat flaming, 70% ethanol, and 1, 3, and 5% phenol in ethanol for smears containing M. tuberculosis were investigated.
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