Foodborne botulism outbreak involving different nationalities during the Rugby World Cup: critical role of credit card data and rapid international cooperation, France, September 2023.

In September 2023, a severe outbreak of type B botulism with fifteen cases was linked to consumption of canned sardines at a restaurant in Bordeaux, France, during the Rugby World Cup. The cases were from seven countries. One death was recorded.

Fatal neonatal listeriosis following L. monocytogenes horizontal transmission highlights neonatal susceptibility to orally acquired listeriosis.

We report a case of fulminant fatal neonatal listeriosis due to horizontal transmission of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in a neonatal double room. Genomic analyses reveal a close genetic relationship between clinical isolates, supporting cross-contamination. Oral inoculation experiments in adult and neonatal mice show that neonates are susceptible to a low Lm inoculum and that this susceptibility results from the immaturity of the neonatal gut microbiota.

Multinational Outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes Infections Linked to Enoki Mushrooms Imported from the Republic of Korea 2016-2020.

Keeping the global food supply safe necessitates international collaborations between countries. Health and regulatory agencies routinely communicate during foodborne illness outbreaks, allowing partners to share investigational evidence. A 2016-2020 outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to imported enoki mushrooms required a multinational collaborative investigation among the United States, Canada, Australia, and France.

A new SARS-CoV-2 variant with high lethality poorly detected by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal samples: an observational study.

Objectives: In early January 2021 an outbreak of nosocomial cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Western France; RT-PCR tests were repeatedly negative on nasopharyngeal samples but positive on lower respiratory tract samples. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) revealed a new variant, currently defining a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage B.1.

National perinatal survey demonstrates a decreasing seroprevalence of infection among pregnant women in France, 1995 to 2016: impact for screening policy.

BackgroundToxoplasmosis during pregnancy can result in congenital anomalies or fetal death. Universal antenatal screening is recommended in France, a strategy in place since the 1970s.AimWe determined the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women participating in the 2016 national perinatal survey (ENP), compared results with previous ENPs, and investigated factors associated with infection.

Accuracy of Emergency Department Clinical Findings for Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Study Objective: We seek to describe the medical history and clinical findings of patients attending the emergency department (ED) with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and estimate the diagnostic accuracy of patients' characteristics for predicting COVID-19.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled all patients tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in our ED from March 9, 2020, to April 4, 2020. We abstracted medical history, physical examination findings, and the clinical probability of COVID-19 (low, moderate, and high) rated by emergency physicians, depending on their clinical judgment.

Outbreak of Listeriosis in South Africa Associated with Processed Meat.

Background: An outbreak of listeriosis was identified in South Africa in 2017. The source was unknown.

Methods: We conducted epidemiologic, trace-back, and environmental investigations and used whole-genome sequencing to type isolates.

Enteric fever among children: 50 cases in a French tertiary care centre.

Background: Enteric fever in France is primarily travel-associated. Characteristics of paediatric cases are scarce and information from field studies in endemic countries might not be generalizable to non-endemic countries.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed all cases of typhoid and paratyphoid fever treated in a French paediatric tertiary care centre from 1993 to 2015.

Genomic epidemiology of Shigella in the United Kingdom shows transmission of pathogen sublineages and determinants of antimicrobial resistance.

Shigella are globally important diarrhoeal pathogens that are endemic in low-to-middle income nations and also occur in high income nations, typically in travellers or community-based risk-groups. Shigella phylogenetics reveals population structures that are more reliable than those built with traditional typing methods, and has identified sublineages associated with specific geographical regions or patient groups. Genomic analyses reveal temporal increases in Shigella antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene content, which is frequently encoded on mobile genetic elements.

Horizontal antimicrobial resistance transfer drives epidemics of multiple Shigella species.

Horizontal gene transfer has played a role in developing the global public health crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, the dynamics of AMR transfer through bacterial populations and its direct impact on human disease is poorly elucidated. Here, we study parallel epidemic emergences of multiple Shigella species, a priority AMR organism, in men who have sex with men to gain insight into AMR emergence and spread.

Ongoing nationwide outbreak of Agona associated with internationally distributed infant milk products, France, December 2017.

On 1 December 2017, an outbreak of Agona infections among infants was identified in France. To date, 37 cases (median age: 4 months) and two further international cases have been confirmed. Five different infant milk products manufactured at one facility were implicated.

Cross-border outbreak of listeriosis caused by cold-smoked salmon, revealed by integrated surveillance and whole genome sequencing (WGS), Denmark and France, 2015 to 2017.

In August 2017, an outbreak of six listeriosis cases in Denmark was traced to cold-smoked salmon, using epidemiological investigations and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) analyses. Exchange of genome sequences allowed identification in France of a food isolate from a salmon-derived product and a human isolate from 2016 within the same cgMLST cluster as the Danish isolates (L2-SL8-ST8-CT771). The salmon product came from a third European Union country.

Risk assessment for antibiotic resistance in South East Asia.

assess the risk of the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance in South East Asia and suggest it is the highest of the World Health Organization regions

Real-Time Whole-Genome Sequencing for Surveillance of Listeria monocytogenes, France.

During 2015-2016, we evaluated the performance of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as a routine typing tool. Its added value for microbiological and epidemiologic surveillance of listeriosis was compared with that for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), the current standard method. A total of 2,743 Listeria monocytogenes isolates collected as part of routine surveillance were characterized in parallel by PFGE and core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) extracted from WGS.

Genomic analysis of serotype Paratyphi A during an outbreak in Cambodia, 2013-2015.

In 2013, an unusual increase in the number of serotype Paratyphi A ( Paratyphi A) infections was reported in patients in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and in European, American and Japanese travellers returning from Cambodia. Epidemiological investigations did not identify a common source of exposure. To analyse the population structure and genetic diversity of these Paratyphi A isolates, we used whole-genome sequencing on 65 isolates collected from 1999 to 2014: 55 from infections acquired in Cambodia and 10 from infections acquired in other countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Clinical features and prognostic factors of listeriosis: the MONALISA national prospective cohort study.

Background: Listeriosis is a severe foodborne infection and a notifiable disease in France. We did a nationwide prospective study to characterise its clinical features and prognostic factors.

Methods: MONALISA was a national prospective observational cohort study.

Whole genome-based population biology and epidemiological surveillance of Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a major human foodborne pathogen. Numerous Lm outbreaks have been reported worldwide and associated with a high case fatality rate, reinforcing the need for strongly coordinated surveillance and outbreak control. We developed a universally applicable genome-wide strain genotyping approach and investigated the population diversity of Lm using 1,696 isolates from diverse sources and geographical locations.

Treatment and outcomes among patients with Cryptococcus gattii infections in the United States Pacific Northwest.

Background: Cryptococcus gattii is a fungal pathogen causing an emerging outbreak in the United States Pacific Northwest (PNW). Treatment guidelines for cryptococcosis are primarily based on data from C. neoformans infections; applicability to PNW C.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with consumption of locally grown strawberries contaminated by deer.

Background: An outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was identified in Oregon through an increase in Shiga toxin-producing E. coli cases with an indistinguishable, novel pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping pattern.

Methods: We defined confirmed cases as persons from whom E.

Duration of Shedding and Secondary Household Transmission of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O26 During an Outbreak in a Childcare Center, Oregon, October-December 2010.

We assessed shedding duration and secondary household transmission of Shiga toxin 1-positive Escherichia coli O26 during a childcare-associated outbreak. No severe illness was noted. Shedding duration was 15-46 days (median, 29).

Misidentification of Yersinia pestis by automated systems, resulting in delayed diagnoses of human plague infections--Oregon and New Mexico, 2010-2011.

One human plague case was reported in Oregon in September 2010 and another in New Mexico in May 2011. Misidentification of Yersinia pestis by automated identification systems contributed to delayed diagnoses for both cases.

Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Infection among HIV-Infected Adults in France.

Clinical, biological, and radiological findings of influenza A (H1N1)-confirmed cases among HIV-infected patients presenting in a French university hospital between October 2009 and January 2010 were systematically reviewed. No severe influenza infection was observed, but a high frequency of secondary bacterial pneumonia is reported among pneumococcal unvaccinated patients.

Detection of extensive cross-neutralization between pandemic and seasonal A/H1N1 Influenza Viruses using a pseudotype neutralization assay.

Background: Cross-immunity between seasonal and pandemic A/H1N1 influenza viruses remains uncertain. In particular, the extent that previous infection or vaccination by seasonal A/H1N1 viruses can elicit protective immunity against pandemic A/H1N1 is unclear.

Methodology/principal Findings: Neutralizing titers against seasonal A/H1N1 (A/Brisbane/59/2007) and against pandemic A/H1N1 (A/California/04/2009) were measured using an HIV-1-based pseudovirus neutralization assay.