Strategies to strengthen COVID-19 vaccine uptake and improve vaccine equity in U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States during the first six months of vaccine rollout.

The eight U.S. territories and freely associated states (TFAS) have historically faced unique social and structural barriers in the implementation of vaccination programs due to geographic remoteness, a high prevalence of socioeconomic disparities, increasing prevalence of natural disasters, limited vaccine providers and clinics, difficulties with procurement and shipping, and difficulty tracking highly mobile populations.

Progress Toward Equitable Mpox Vaccination Coverage: A Shortfall Analysis - United States, May 2022-April 2023.

More than 30,000 monkeypox (mpox) cases were reported in the United States during the 2022 multinational outbreak; cases disproportionately affected gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Substantial racial and ethnic disparities in incidence were also reported (1). The national mpox vaccination strategy* emphasizes that efforts to administer the JYNNEOS mpox vaccine should be focused among the populations at elevated risk for exposure to mpox (2).

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mpox Cases and Vaccination Among Adult Males - United States, May-December 2022.

As of December 31, 2022, a total of 29,939 monkeypox (mpox) cases* had been reported in the United States, 93.3% of which occurred in adult males. During May 10-December 31, 2022, 723,112 persons in the United States received the first dose in a 2-dose mpox (JYNNEOS) vaccination series; 89.

A DNA polymerization-independent role for mitochondrial DNA polymerase I-like protein C in African trypanosomes.

Mitochondrial DNA of and related parasites is a catenated network containing thousands of minicircles and tens of maxicircles, called kinetoplast DNA (kDNA). Replication of a single nucleoid requires at least three DNA polymerase I-like proteins (i.e.

Corrigendum: Whole Genome Sequencing: Bridging One-Health Surveillance of Foodborne Diseases.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.

An investigation of Salmonella Fluntern illnesses linked to leopard geckos-United States, 2018.

Reptile contact can result in zoonotic non-typhoidal salmonellosis. In April 2018, Oregon Public Health Division contacted CDC about a cluster of four Salmonella serovar Fluntern (SF) illnesses in four states (OR, CA, IA, NY); patients reported contact with geckos, a popular reptile pet. PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network of food-borne disease surveillance, subsequently identified additional SF clinical isolates.

Cell cycle localization dynamics of mitochondrial DNA polymerase IC in African trypanosomes.

Trypanosoma brucei has a unique catenated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) network called kinetoplast DNA (kDNA). Replication of kDNA occurs once per cell cycle in near synchrony with nuclear S phase and requires the coordination of many proteins. Among these are three essential DNA polymerases (TbPOLIB, IC, and ID).

Initial Public Health Laboratory Response After Hurricane Maria - Puerto Rico, 2017.

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing major damage to infrastructure and severely limiting access to potable water, electric power, transportation, and communications. Public services that were affected included operations of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH), which provides critical laboratory testing and surveillance for diseases and other health hazards. PRDOH requested assistance from CDC for the restoration of laboratory infrastructure, surveillance capacity, and diagnostic testing for selected priority diseases, including influenza, rabies, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and tuberculosis.

PulseNet International: Vision for the implementation of whole genome sequencing (WGS) for global food-borne disease surveillance.

PulseNet International is a global network dedicated to laboratory-based surveillance for food-borne diseases. The network comprises the national and regional laboratory networks of Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and the United States. The PulseNet International vision is the standardised use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify and subtype food-borne bacterial pathogens worldwide, replacing traditional methods to strengthen preparedness and response, reduce global social and economic disease burden, and save lives.

Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Anatum Infections Linked to Imported Hot Peppers - United States, May-July 2016.

Foodborne salmonellosis causes an estimated 1 million illnesses and 400 deaths annually in the United States (1). Salmonella Anatum is one of the top 20 Salmonella serotypes in the United States. During 2013-2015 there were approximately 300-350 annual illnesses reported to PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance.

Synergy and Order Effects of Antibiotics and Phages in Killing Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms.

In contrast to planktonic cells, bacteria imbedded biofilms are notoriously refractory to treatment by antibiotics or bacteriophage (phage) used alone. Given that the mechanisms of killing differ profoundly between drugs and phages, an obvious question is whether killing is improved by combining antibiotic and phage therapy. However, this question has only recently begun to be explored.

Laboratory Investigation of Salmonella enterica serovar Poona Outbreak in California: Comparison of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Results.

Introduction: Recently, serovar Poona caused a multistate outbreak, with 245 out of 907 cases occurring in California. We report a comparison of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) results with whole genome sequencing (WGS) for genotyping of Poona isolates.

Methods: CA Poona isolates, collected from July to August 2015, were genotyped by PFGE using XbaI restriction enzyme.

Malthusian Parameters as Estimators of the Fitness of Microbes: A Cautionary Tale about the Low Side of High Throughput.

The maximum exponential growth rate, the Malthusian parameter (MP), is commonly used as a measure of fitness in experimental studies of adaptive evolution and of the effects of antibiotic resistance and other genes on the fitness of planktonic microbes. Thanks to automated, multi-well optical density plate readers and computers, with little hands-on effort investigators can readily obtain hundreds of estimates of MPs in less than a day. Here we compare estimates of the relative fitness of antibiotic susceptible and resistant strains of E.

Persistence: a copacetic and parsimonious hypothesis for the existence of non-inherited resistance to antibiotics.

We postulate that phenotypic resistance to antibiotics, persistence, is not an evolved (selected-for) character but rather like mutation, an inadvertent product of different kinds of errors and glitches. The rate of generation of these errors is augmented by exposure to these drugs. The genes that have been identified as contributing to the production of persisters are analogous to the so-called mutator genes; they modulate the rate at which these errors occur and/or are corrected.

Trypanosoma brucei Orc1 is essential for nuclear DNA replication and affects both VSG silencing and VSG switching.

Binding of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) to replication origins is essential for initiation of DNA replication, but ORC has non-essential functions outside of DNA replication, including in heterochromatic gene silencing and telomere maintenance. Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis, uses antigenic variation as a major virulence mechanism to evade the host's immune attack by expressing its major surface antigen, the Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG), in a monoallelic manner. An Orc1/Cdc6 homologue has been identified in T.

Dynamic localization of Trypanosoma brucei mitochondrial DNA polymerase ID.

Trypanosomes contain a unique form of mitochondrial DNA called kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) that is a catenated network composed of minicircles and maxicircles. Several proteins are essential for network replication, and most of these localize to the antipodal sites or the kinetoflagellar zone. Essential components for kDNA synthesis include three mitochondrial DNA polymerases TbPOLIB, TbPOLIC, and TbPOLID).