Publications by authors named "Molly Leeper"

In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state partners conducted a sample-initiated investigation of a multistate outbreak of Senftenberg illnesses linked to peanut butter.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study examined 438 isolates from 100 outbreaks to establish guidelines for detecting disease clusters and analyzed them for genetic variations and antimicrobial resistance.
  • * Most outbreaks had close genetic similarities, indicating they were related, while some showed more variation, suggesting differing pathogen sources and evolving resistance patterns.
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During July-September 2023, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 illness among children in city A, Utah, caused 13 confirmed illnesses; seven patients were hospitalized, including two with hemolytic uremic syndrome. Local, state, and federal public health partners investigating the outbreak linked the illnesses to untreated, pressurized, municipal irrigation water (UPMIW) exposure in city A; 12 of 13 ill children reported playing in or drinking UPMIW. Clinical isolates were genetically highly related to one another and to environmental isolates from multiple locations within city A's UPMIW system.

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is a leading cause of bacterial foodborne and zoonotic illnesses in the United States. For this study, we applied four different whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based subtyping methods: high quality single-nucleotide polymorphism (hqSNP) analysis, whole genome multilocus sequence typing using either all loci [wgMLST (all loci)] and only chromosome-associated loci [wgMLST (chrom)], and core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) to a dataset of isolate sequences from 9 well-characterized outbreaks. For each outbreak, we evaluated the genomic and epidemiologic concordance between hqSNP and allele-based methods.

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The United States are one of the world's leading consumers of melons. In 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state health and regulatory partners investigated an outbreak of Newport infections linked to melons from southwest Indiana, resulting in 80 ill persons and 18 hospitalizations reported across 15 states. Epidemiologic and traceback data indicated melons as the vehicle for these infections, but the collinearity of melon varieties purchased and consumed together in combination with the traceback investigation that could not rule out either melon type, did not allow investigators to delineate whether the vehicle was cantaloupe alone or, both cantaloupe and watermelons.

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Poultry contact is a risk factor for zoonotic transmission of non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. Salmonella illness outbreaks in the United States are identified by PulseNet, the national laboratory network for enteric disease surveillance. During 2020, PulseNet observed a 25% decline in the number of Salmonella clinical isolates uploaded by state and local health departments.

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Ceftriaxone-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (Typhi), the bacterium that causes typhoid fever, is a growing public health threat. Extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Typhi is resistant to ceftriaxone and other antibiotics used for treatment, including ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1). In March 2018, CDC began enhanced surveillance for ceftriaxone-resistant Typhi in response to an ongoing outbreak of XDR typhoid fever in Pakistan.

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A multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Anatum strain reported in Taiwan was isolated in the United States from patients and from seafood imported from Asia. Isolates harbored 11 resistance determinants, including quinolone and inducible cephalosporin resistance genes. Most patients had traveled to Asia.

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A large outbreak of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) serotype Typhi infections is ongoing in Pakistan, predominantly in Sindh Province. Here, we report the sequencing and characterization of five XDR Typhi isolates from the Punjab province of Pakistan that are closely related to the outbreak strain and carry the same IncY plasmid.

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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.

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We describe two outbreaks of multidrug-resistant (MDR) I 4,[5],12:i:- infection, occurring in 2015 to 2016, linked to pork products, including whole roaster pigs sold raw from a single Washington slaughter and processing facility (establishment A). Food histories from 80 ill persons were compared with food histories reported in the FoodNet 2006 to 2007 survey of healthy persons from all 10 U.S.

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In January 2017, CDC identified a cluster of Salmonella enterica serotype Newport infections with isolates sharing an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern, JJPX01.0010 (pattern 10), through PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance. This report summarizes the investigation by CDC, state and local health and agriculture departments, and the U.

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During September to October, 2006, state and local health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated a large, multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. Case patients were interviewed regarding specific foods consumed and other possible exposures. E.

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Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis XbaI patterns of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157) isolates (n = 156) found in ground beef sampled from U.S. processing plants and retail stores during 2001 to 2006 were summarized and compared with XbaI patterns from human STEC O157 isolates (n = 14,591) in the national PulseNet E.

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