Incidence of Hajj-associated febrile cough episodes among French pilgrims: a prospective cohort study on the influence of statin use and risk factors.

A prospective epidemiological study was conducted to evaluate the incidence of febrile cough episodes among adult Muslims travelling from Marseille to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj pilgrimage and to assess if use of statin had an influence on this incidence. In total, 580 individuals were presented with a questionnaire. A significant proportion of individuals had chronic medical disorders, e.

Analysis of the Rickettsia africae genome reveals that virulence acquisition in Rickettsia species may be explained by genome reduction.

Background: The Rickettsia genus includes 25 validated species, 17 of which are proven human pathogens. Among these, the pathogenicity varies greatly, from the highly virulent R. prowazekii, which causes epidemic typhus and kills its arthropod host, to the mild pathogen R.

The relationship between spotted fever group Rickettsiae and ixodid ticks.

Spotted fever group Rickettsiae are predominantly transmitted by ticks. Rickettsiae have developed many strategies to adapt to different environmental conditions, including those within their arthropod vectors and vertebrate hosts. The tick-Rickettsiae relationship has been a point of interest for many researchers, with most studies concentrating on the role of ticks as vectors.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of French travelers from Marseille regarding rabies risk and prevention.

Objective: To assess the awareness of the mode of rabies transmission, travel-associated rabies risk, and adequate preventive measures among French travelers.

Methods: Three hundred travelers were administered a detailed questionnaire prior to pretravel advice, addressing their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) with respect to animal-related injuries and rabies risk. Two hundred and nine were administered a post-travel questionnaire by telephone, addressing the occurrence of contacts with animals during travel.

Persisting mixed cryoglobulinemia in Chikungunya infection.

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus, is responsible for a two-stage disabling disease, consisting of an acute febrile polyarthritis for the first 10 days, frequently followed by chronic rheumatisms, sometimes lasting for years. Up to now, the pathophysiology of the chronic stage has been elusive. Considering the existence of occasional peripheral vascular disorders and some unexpected seronegativity during the chronic stage of the disease, we hypothesized the role of cryoglobulins.

Molecular identification of Borrelia crocidurae in a patient returning from Senegal.

Borrelia spp. are pathogens responsible for worldwide tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF). In West Africa, TBRF is due to a single species, Borrelia crocidurae, transmitted by the soft-body tick Ornithodoros sonrai.

Tick-borne rickettsioses in America: unanswered questions and emerging diseases.

During most of the 20th century, Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, was considered the only tick-borne rickettsia associated with human diseases in the Americas. This dogma suggested that the other characterized and noncharacterized rickettsiae isolated from ticks were not pathogenic to humans. This concept has been modified extensively in the past 10 years with the identification of at least three additional rickettsial species that cause human tick-borne rickettsioses and that are prevalent in the Americas, including Rickettsia parkeri, Rickettsia massiliae, and Rickettsia africae.

Chikungunya: a paradigm of emergence and globalization of vector-borne diseases.

Chikungunya (CHIK) fever is a tropical arboviral disease responsible for acute polyarthritis which can last for weeks to months. In 2007, the chikungunya virus (CHIKV) reached Europe. Since the beginning of this outbreak, several million cases of chikungunya virus disease have occurred in autochthonous populations and in travelers who were diagnosed after they returned home from epidemic areas.

Massilia virus, a novel Phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae) isolated from sandflies in the Mediterranean.

A new virus was isolated from three independent pools of Phlebotomus perniciosus sandflies (Diptera; Psychodidae) trapped in two regions of southeastern France, located 90 miles apart. Microscopic, antigenic and genetic analyses indicate that this novel virus belongs to the genus Phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. The new virus is designated Massilia virus since the first isolate was obtained from sandflies collected in the suburban area of Marseille.