Centers for disease control and prevention expert panel meetings on prevention and treatment of anthrax in adults.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened panels of anthrax experts to review and update guidelines for anthrax postexposure prophylaxis and treatment. The panels included civilian and military anthrax experts and clinicians with experience treating anthrax patients. Specialties represented included internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, infectious disease, emergency medicine, critical care, pulmonology, hematology, and nephrology.

A literature review of laboratory-acquired brucellosis.

Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonotic disease which has been associated with laboratory-acquired infections. No recent reviews have addressed the characteristics of laboratory-acquired brucellosis (LAB). English-language literature was reviewed to identify reports of laboratory exposures to Brucella spp.

Workshop on treatment of and postexposure prophylaxis for Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei Infection, 2010.

The US Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise convened subject matter experts at the 2010 HHS Burkholderia Workshop to develop consensus recommendations for postexposure prophylaxis against and treatment for Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei infections, which cause melioidosis and glanders, respectively. Drugs recommended by consensus of the participants are ceftazidime or meropenem for initial intensive therapy, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or amoxicillin/clavulanic acid for eradication therapy.

Epidemiology and investigation of melioidosis, Southern Arizona.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a bacterium endemic to Southeast Asia and northern Australia, but it has not been found to occur endemically in the United States. We report an ostensibly autochthonous case of melioidosis in the United States. Despite an extensive investigation, the source of exposure was not identified.

Burkholderia pseudomallei infection in a child with cystic fibrosis: acquisition in the Western Hemisphere.

Melioidosis, an infection caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is endemic to Southeast Asia and northern Australia but is only very rarely seen in patients in the United States. We report pulmonary B pseudomallei infection in a young girl with cystic fibrosis (CF) who had never traveled to Asia or Australia. Biochemical and epidemiologic investigation determined Aruba as the likely site of disease acquisition.

Antimicrobial-resistant nocardia isolates, United States, 1995-2004.

We conducted a 10-year retrospective evaluation of the epidemiology and identification of Nocardia isolates submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The species most commonly identified were N. nova (28%), N.

International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2010.

The seventh International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID) was held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, July 11-14, 2010. The conference goal was to bring together public health professionals to encourage exchange of scientific and public health information on global emerging infectious disease issues. The conference was organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Society for Microbiology, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, and the World Health Organization; additional support was provided by 40 other multidisciplinary public health partners.

Investigation of an apparent outbreak of Rhodococcus equi bacteremia.

During January to April 2007, hospital staff reported 3 patients with Rhodococcus equi bloodstream infections. Isolates were analyzed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, to confirm identification and to assess strain relatedness; 2 were R. equi but genetically distinct, and 1 was identified as Gordonia polyisoprenivorans.

Management of accidental laboratory exposure to Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei.

The gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia pseudomallei is a saprophyte and the cause of melioidosis. Natural infection is most commonly reported in northeast Thailand and northern Australia but also occurs in other parts of Asia, South America, and the Caribbean. Melioidosis develops after bacterial inoculation or inhalation, often in relation to occupational exposure in areas where the disease is endemic.

Transfusion-associated transmission of West Nile virus, United States 2003 through 2005.

Background: National blood donation screening for West Nile virus (WNV) started in June 2003, after the documentation of WNV transfusion-associated transmission (TAT) in 2002.

Study Design And Methods: Blood donations were screened with investigational nucleic acid amplification assays in minipool formats. Blood collection agencies (BCAs) reported screening results to state and local public health authorities.

Bloodstream infections in pediatric oncology outpatients: a new healthcare systems challenge.

Objective: To investigate a perceived increase in central venous catheter (CVC)-associated bloodstream infections (BSIs) among pediatric hematology-oncology outpatients.

Design: A case-control study.

Setting: A pediatric hematology-oncology outpatient clinic at Fresno Children's Hospital.