Publications by authors named "Melissa Ramtahal"

Salmonella enterica is a zoonotic pathogen of worldwide public health importance. We characterised Salmonella isolates from poultry along the farm-to-fork continuum using whole genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatic analyses. Three multilocus sequence types (MLSTs), i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Poultry is a cheap source of animal protein and constituent of diets in Africa. Poultry can serve as a reservoir for and cause food-borne infections in humans. This review describes contamination of food, poultry, and the farming environment, antimicrobial resistance profiles, and serotypes of , as well as the farming systems, antimicrobial use (AMU), hygiene, and husbandry conditions used to rear poultry in Africa.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The presence of the zoonotic pathogen in the food supply chain poses a serious public health threat. This study describes the prevalence, susceptibility profiles, virulence patterns, and clonality of from a poultry flock monitored over six weeks, using the farm-to-fork approach. was isolated using selective media and confirmed to the genus and species level by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the and genes, respectively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The first synthesis and biological activity of a teixobactin analogue is reported. Substitution of the unusual L-allo-enduracididine residue by the naturally occurring L-arginine was achieved, and the analogue gave an activity trend similar to that of teixobactin (against Gram-postive bacteria) and meropenem, which was approved by the FDA in 1996. The synthetic route used allows for the synthesis of the natural product as well as the development of a program of medicinal chemistry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We expanded second-line tuberculosis (TB) drug susceptibility testing for extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from South Africa. Of 19 patients with extensively drug-resistant TB identified during February 2008-April 2009, 13 (68%) had isolates resistant to all 8 drugs tested. This resistance leaves no effective treatment with available drugs in South Africa.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Mortality is exceedingly high and rapid among patients infected with HIV and tuberculosis (TB), in part because of limited access to appropriate TB diagnostics. The microscopic observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) assay is a simple, rapid, low-cost test for TB and multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB, but data in individuals infected with HIV and in Africa are limited.

Objectives: To evaluate the MODS assay in a high-HIV-prevalence setting.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF