Surveillance for and ticks and their associated pathogens in Canada, 2019.

Background: The primary vectors of the agent of Lyme disease in Canada are and ticks. Surveillance for ticks and the pathogens they can transmit can inform local tick-borne disease risk and guide public health interventions. The objective of this article is to characterize passive and active surveillance of the main Lyme disease tick vectors in Canada in 2019 and the tick-borne pathogens they carry.

Global phylogeny of Treponema pallidum lineages reveals recent expansion and spread of contemporary syphilis.

Syphilis, which is caused by the sexually transmitted bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, has an estimated 6.3 million cases worldwide per annum.

Comprehensive Immune Profiling of a Kidney Transplant Recipient With Peri-Operative SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Case Report.

To date there is limited data on the immune profile and outcomes of solid organ transplant recipients who encounter COVID-19 infection early post-transplant. Here we present a unique case where the kidney recipient's transplant surgery coincided with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test and the patient subsequently developed symptomatic COVID-19 perioperatively. We performed comprehensive immunological monitoring of cellular, proteomic, and serological changes during the first 4 critical months post-infection.

Passive Tick Surveillance and Detection of Species in Ticks from British Columbia, Canada: 2002-2018.

Lyme disease, caused by (s.l.) complex, is the most common vector-borne disease in North America.

Ecology and Epidemiology of Tickborne Pathogens, Washington, USA, 2011-2016.

Tickborne diseases are rare in Washington, USA, and the ecology of these pathogens is poorly understood. We integrated surveillance data from humans and ticks to better describe their epidemiology and ecology. During 2011-2016, a total of 202 tickborne disease cases were reported in Washington residents.

Detection of 'Candidatus Ehrlichia khabarensis' in rodents and ticks removed from rodents in British Columbia, Canada.

'Candidatus Ehrlichia khabarensis' was first described from rodents and insectivores in the Far East territory of Khabarovsk on the Russian Pacific Coast. Here we report the detection of DNA from this microorganism in rodents and fed ticks collected from rodents in British Columbia, Canada in 2013-2014. 'Candidatus Ehrlichia khabarensis' was detected in (i) a female Ixodes angustus tick collected from a Peromyscus maniculatus; (ii) a female Dermacentor andersoni tick collected from a Perognathus parvus; (iii) a pool of 2 larval Ixodes pacificus ticks collected from a single P.

Baylisascariasis: A young boy with neural larva migrans due to the emerging raccoon round worm.

A 17-month-old boy from Vancouver, Canada, presented with a 5-day history of progressive somnolence, ataxia, and torticollis. Additional investigations revealed eosinophilic encephalitis with deep white matter changes on MR imaging. On day 13, serology came back positive for antibodies.

Surveillance for Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes Ticks and Small Rodents in British Columbia.

To determine the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in British Columbian ticks, fieldwork was conducted over a 2-year period. In all, 893 ticks (Ixodes pacificus, I. angustus, I.

An update of laboratory diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Helicobacter pylori is a micro-aerophilic, slow-growing, Gram-negative spiral bacterium that colonizes the mucous lining of the human stomach. Infection with this bacterium has been identified as a cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Globally, the prevalence of H.

Lyme Disease Diagnosed by Alternative Methods: A Phenotype Similar to That of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Background: A subset of patients reporting a diagnosis of Lyme disease can be described as having alternatively diagnosed chronic Lyme syndrome (ADCLS), in which diagnosis is based on laboratory results from a nonreference Lyme specialty laboratory using in-house criteria. Patients with ADCLS report symptoms similar to those reported by patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Methods: We performed a case-control study comparing patients with ADCLS and CFS to each other and to both healthy controls and controls with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Recent trends in the serologic diagnosis of syphilis.

Complexities in the diagnosis of syphilis continue to challenge clinicians. While direct tests (e.g.

Rational design of antigens to improve the serodiagnosis of tick-borne borreliosis in central regions of Russia.

Tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease-LD) is caused by pathogenic Borrelia spirochetes that is transmitted through bite of Ixodes ticks to humans and animals. In the Russian Federation, borreliosis registered with an index of 6-7 per 100,000 people annually. In reality, LD morbidity in Russia is much higher because Russian strains develop less erythematous rashes compared to North American strains, thus missed by physicians in most of the early cases, and current serology tests have insufficient sensitivity as well.

Current trend on syphilis diagnosis: issues and challenges.

Syphilis is a century old sexually transmitted infection transmitted worldwide. WHO reports 12 million new cases that were identified in 1999, with over 90% of these infections reported from patients from low-income countries. This case number of syphilis is on the rise globally in the Men have sex with Men (MSM) population.

Brucella spp isolated from respiratory sample and grown in Mycobacterium growth indicator tube (MGIT).

Brucellosis remains endemic in many countries including Saudi Arabia. The disinfection of objects and surfaces contaminated with Brucella spp is not difficult, but we encountered a situation in which the organism survived the decontamination and liquefaction procedure adopted for AFB culture. A sputum specimen from a patient was sent for TB culture and the BACTEC MGIT 960 system isolated an organism identified as Brucella spp.

New proteins for a new perspective on syphilis diagnosis.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum; it can be effectively treated with penicillin yet remains prevalent worldwide, due in part to the shortcomings of current diagnostic tests. Here we report the production of soluble recombinant versions of three novel diagnostic candidate proteins, Tp0326, Tp0453, and a Tp0453-Tp0326 chimera.

Detection of Salmonella typhi agglutinins in sera of patients with other febrile illnesses and healthy individuals.

Background And Purpose: Widal test is frequently applied for the detection of Salmonella agglutinins to diagnose Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi infection. There are however a number of controversies challenging the diagnostic utility of this test. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella agglutinins in patients with other febrile illnesses and healthy blood donors.

Cryptococcus gattiivgi in a spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) from Hawaii.

A spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) was found stranded in Hawaii with cutaneous nodules and enlarged lymph nodes. Numerous Cryptococcus gattii VGI yeast were observed in multiple organs with minimal inflammation. This case represents the first reported infection of C.

Detection of Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, including three novel genotypes in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from songbirds (Passeriformes) across Canada.

Lyme disease is reported across Canada, but pinpointing the source of infection has been problematic. In this three-year, bird-tick-pathogen study (2004-2006), 366 ticks representing 12 species were collected from 151 songbirds (31 passerine species/subspecies) at 16 locations Canada-wide. Of the 167 ticks/pools tested, 19 (11.

Spread of Cryptococcus gattii into Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

Cryptococcus gattii has emerged as a human and animal pathogen in the Pacific Northwest. First recognized on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, it now involves mainland British Columbia, and Washington and Oregon in the United States. In Canada, the incidence of disease has been one of the highest worldwide.

Rapid introduction of Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, in Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) established at Turkey Point Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) was isolated from questing adult Ixodes scapularis Say ticks collected from Turkey Point Provincial Park (TPPP), Ontario, Canada during 2005-2006.