Mysterious disease causing paralysis and death in South Florida dogs

According to a report by the Miami Herald, veterinarians are treating several dogs for paralysis. This has occurred a few weeks after South Florida experienced very frigid temperatures.

Some vets think that they may be dealing with botulism in the dogs as a result of the animals chewing on dead iguana carcasses.

During the cold snap, thousands of iguanas perished, including dropping out of trees, as seen on national news reports. It appears that dogs are finding these corpses and treating them like chew toys. Some vets are looking at this as the source of the dog’s illnesses.

According to veterinarians, the paralysis starts in the back end, and then progresses to the front legs and occasionally disabling the diaphragms requiring the dog to be intubated so it can breathe. These symptoms appear a day or so after an iguana encounter.

Rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d9-Mysterious-disease-causing-paralysis-and-death-in-South-Florida-dogs

Preacher perishes to meningitis after working in Haiti

A 63 year old Dominican Republic preacher has died as a result of meningococcal meningitis last week. He became infected in Haiti where he and members of his congregation went to help earthquake victims.

He was in Haiti the last week of January with 12 members of his congregation working on fixing a temporary shelter for orphan children destroyed in the earthquake.

He died after at the medical center after returning to Santo Domingo.

Currently the Ministry of Public Health of the Dominican Republic has put the preacher’s relatives under close surveillance for meningococcal meningitis. In addition, the members of his evangelical mission are being located for prophylatic antibiotics.

Rest of the article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d7-Preacher-perishes-to-meningitis-after-working-in-Haiti#

Russia: over 300 people sickened during religious festival

According to the Russian Federal Service for Consumer Protection (FSCP), 360 people became ill after drinking holy water during an Epiphany celebration in Siberia. The sickened people have been diagnosed with rotavirus gastroenteritis.

During the January Epiphany celebration, as a tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, water blessed by a local Church priest collected from a local lagoon was drunken by parishioners in honor of the baptism of Christ. It is believed that the “holy water” has certain curative and strengthening powers.

The water from the lagoon was found to be stagnant and contaminated according to the Sanitation department in the city of Irkutsk, Siberia. The water was tested for rotavirus antigens and found to be positive.

Rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d6-Russia-over-300-people-sickened-during-religious-festival

Hundreds of Russian children hospitalized from rotavirus infection

Over 200 children from the countries Magadan Region have been hospitalized after eating imported fruits from China according to the Rossiya TV channel.

The majority of the children affected were under the age of three. The imported fruits were bananas, apples, and citrus fruits. The source of the infections was contaminated fruit skins with the intestinal virus, rotavirus.

Health officials predict the infection should subside this spring when domestic food supplies can reach the sub arctic region.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children, resulting in the hospitalization of approximately 55,000 children each year in the United States and the death of over 600,000 children annually worldwide. The incubation period for rotavirus disease is approximately 2 days.

Rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d4-Hundreds-of-Russian-children-hospitalized-from-rotavirus-infection#

The Lancet retracts controversial 12 year old autism study

The British medical journal, The Lancet, has retracted a controversial study from 1998 in which the author suggested a link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The lead researcher, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, has been found guilty by the General Medical Council of dishonesty and ethics violations.

What are the specific violations?

Dr. Wakefield is accused of abusing his position and subjecting children to intrusive procedures that weren’t indicated.

There are also issues of conflict of interest where Wakefield received funding from the Legal Aid Board through a solicitor who hoped to mount a legal action against the manufacturer and that he had also filed a patent application for a new vaccine.

Rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d3-The-Lancet-retracts-controversial-12-year-old-autism-study#

Wrestlers risk of MRSA exposure increases dramatically during tournaments

An analysis by Surgical and Wound Care Company, Molnlycke Health Care, shows that high school and college wrestlers that participate in tournaments are 16 times more likely to be exposed to Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Specifically the analysis shows that based on a potential MRSA colonization rate of 25 percent, the average number of matches each wrestler participates in at a tournament (three) and the number of wrestlers exposed to the tournament wrestler when he or she returns to a practice room (six), the potential exposure rate of MRSA from the tournament increases by approximately 16.

Wrestlers are at a higher risk of skin infections with MRSA due to constant skin-to-skin contact, cuts, and use of shared equipment like wrestling mats.

See rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m2d1-Wrestlers-risk-of-MRSA-exposure-increases-dramatically-during-tournaments#

Nationwide Salmonella outbreak potentially linked to salami

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Rhode Island Department of Health and several other agencies have been investigating an outbreak of Salmonella serotype Montevideo which began last July.

The outbreak which as of Thursday totaled 202 individuals in 42 states having matching strains based on DNA analysis.

Thirty-eight patients infected with the salmonella had to be hospitalized and fortunately there were no deaths.

Daniele International Inc. of Rhode Island is the producer of the ready to eat salami products suspected of causing the nationwide outbreak. Just last week, Daniele International recalled 1,240,000 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) varieties of Italian sausage products, including salami due to being suspected in the outbreak. It is important to note that the investigation is ongoing and the salami has yet to be definitively identified as the cause.

Rest of article: http://www.examiner.com/x-7707-Infectious-Disease-Examiner~y2010m1d30-Nationwide-Salmonella-outbreak-potentially-linked-to-salami#