A clustering of immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy among swine abattoir workers exposed to aerosolized porcine brains, Indiana, United States.

In November 2007 a novel neuropathy, immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy (IP), was identified among workers at a Minnesota swine abattoir where a unique compressed air technique was used to remove porcine brains. An epidemiologic investigation at another abattoir in Indiana that also uses this process was launched to evaluate workers self-reporting neurologic illness compatible with IP. A nested case-control study was performed to identify cases and risk factors.

Spatial clustering by disease severity among reported Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases in the United States, 2001-2005.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) occurs throughout much of the United States, ranging in clinical severity from moderate to fatal infection. Yet, little is known about possible differences among severity levels across geographic locations. To identify significant spatial clusters of severe and non-severe disease, RMSF cases reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were geocoded by county and classified by severity level.

Evidence of multiple zoonotic agents in a wild rodent community in the eastern Sierra Nevada.

This study aimed to describe the occurrence of Yersinia pestis, Rickettsia rickettsii, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and ectoparasites in a wild rodent community in the eastern Sierra Nevada. From May to September 2006, rodents were live-trapped, examined for ectoparasites, and blood was collected. All rodents were serologically tested for antibodies to Y.

Predicting the emergence of tick-borne infections based on climatic changes in Korea.

Granulocytic anaplasmosis (GA) and monocytic ehrlichiosis (ME) are maintained in wild rodent reservoirs and tick vectors in the Republic of Korea. This study investigated the prevalence of 2 tick-borne pathogens, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Ehrlichia chaffeensis, in wild rodents and ticks in central Korea to identify any significant associations with existing or changing climatic conditions. Specifically, the goal of this study was to develop simple models for the probability of occurrence of an epidemic of GA or ME as a function of climate in an area in a given year.

Initiation and spread of traveling waves of plague, Yersinia pestis, in the western United States.

Yersinia pestis invaded the continental United States in 1900 and subsequently became established in wild rodent populations in several western states, traversing 2,250 km in approximately 40 years. However, the specific path of the eastward expansion of plague into the United States is poorly understood. We directly calculated velocities of disease spread and performed trend-surface analyses on spatio-temporally unique plague cases to clarify the route and speed of the initial spread of plague eastward.