Search

MALDI-TOF MS profiling has proved to be efficient for arthropod identification at the species level. However, prior to entomological monitoring, the reference spectra database should cover relevant species. Here, 74 specimens were field-collected from 11 mosquito species captured in two distinct European areas and used either to increment our database or for blind tests. Misidentification was not noted, underlining the power of this approach. Nevertheless, three out of the 26 specimens used for the blind test did not reach the significant identification threshold value set, attributed to lower spectral quality. In the future, the quality control spectra parameters need to be defined to avoid not achieving significant threshold identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Argas vespertilionis, an argasid tick associated with bats and bat habitats in Europe, Africa, and Asia has been reported to bite humans; however, studies investigating the presence of vector-borne pathogens in these ticks are lacking. Using molecular tools, we tested 5 A. vespertilionis ticks collected in 2010 from the floor of a bat-infested attic in southwestern France that had been converted into bedrooms. Rickettsia sp. AvBat, a new genotype of spotted fever group rickettsiae, was detected and cultivated from 3 of the 5 ticks. A new species of the Ehrlichia canis group, Ehrlichia sp. AvBat, was also detected in 3 ticks. Four ticks were infected with Borrelia sp. CPB1, a relapsing fever agent of the Borrelia group that caused fatal borreliosis in a bat in the United Kingdom. Further studies are needed to characterize these new agents and determine if the A. vespertilionis tick is a vector and/or reservoir of these agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confirms the role of Yersinia pestis in the Medieval Black Death believed to have killed up to one-third of Western European population during the 14th century. Excavation of a patient who died of black death; Recovery of DNA from a dental pulp; Suicide PCR and sequence analysis of Y. pestis DNA.

Cat-scratch disease is seasonal in the United States and Japan; but no data are available from Europe. To assess the seasonality of the disease in France, we analyzed lymph node biopsy specimens collected during 1999-2009. Most (87.5%) cases occurred during September-April and peaked in December. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rodent-murine ectoparasite-human model of plague transmission does not correspond with historical details around plague pandemics in Europe. New analysis of ancient genomes reveal that Yersinia pestis was unable to be transmitted by rat fleas until around 4000 Before Present, which challenges the rodent-murine ectoparasite-human model of plague transmission and historical details around plague pandemics in Europe. In this Review, we summarise data regarding Y pestis transmission by human lice in the context of genomic evolution and co-transmission of other major epidemic deadly pathogens throughout human history, with the aim of broadening our view of plague transmission. Experimental models support the efficiency of human lice as plague vectors through infected faeces, which suggest that Y pestis could be a louse-borne disease, similar to Borrelia recurrentis, Rickettsia prowazekii, and Bartonella quintana. Studies have shown that louse-borne outbreaks often involve multiple pathogens, and several cases of co-transmission of Y pestis and B quintana have been reported. Furthermore, an exclusive louse-borne bacterium, namely B recurrentis, was found to be circulating in northern Europe during the second plague pandemic (14th-18th century). Current data make it possible to attribute large historical pandemics to multiple bacteria, and suggests that human lice probably played a preponderant role in the interhuman transmission of plague and pathogen co-transmission during previous large epidemics, including plague pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yersinia pestis DNA was recently detected in human remains from 2 ancient plague pandemics in France and Germany. We have now sequenced Y. pestis glpD gene in such remains, showing a 93-bp deletion specific for biotype Orientalis. These data show that only Orientalis type caused the 3 plague pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Rickettsia sibirica subsp, mongolitimonae" is the agent of lymphangitis-associated rickettsiosis, an emerging human disease that has been diagnosed in Europe and Africa. The present study reports the draft genome of Rickettsia sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae strain HA-91. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has now been over a year since SARS-CoV-2 first emerged in China, in December 2019, and it has spread rapidly around the world. Some variants are currently considered of great concern. We aimed to analyze the numbers of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences obtained in different countries worldwide until January 2021. On 28 January 2021, we downloaded the deposited genome sequence origin from the GISAID database, and from the "Our world in data" website we downloaded numbers of SARS-CoV-2-diagnosed cases, numbers of SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths, population size, life expectancy, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and human development index per country. Files were merged and data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel software. A total of 450,968 SARS-CoV-2 genomes originating from 135 countries on the 5 continents were available. When considering the 19 countries for which the number of genomes per 100 deaths was >100, six were in Europe, while eight were in Asia, three were in Oceania and two were in Africa. Six (30%) of these countries are beyond rank 75, regarding the human development index and four (20%) are beyond rank 80 regarding GDP per capita. Moreover, the comparisons of the number of genomes sequenced per 100 deaths to the human development index by country show that some Western European countries have released similar or lower numbers of genomes than many African or Asian countries with a lower human development index. Previous data highlight great discrepancies between the numbers of available SARS-CoV-2 genomes per 100 cases and deaths and the ranking of countries regarding wealth and development.

Truffles are edible mushrooms with similar morphological characteristics, that make it difficult to distinguish between highly prized truffles (such as the Périgord black T. melanosporum) and inexpensive truffles (such as the Asian Black T. indicum). These biological and economic features have led to several misidentifications and/or fraudulent profit in the truffle markets. In this paper, we investigate Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) biotyping to identify 34 commercial fresh truffles from Europe and Asia. The MALDI-TOF MS clustering rapidly distinguished seven Tuber species identified by ITS phylogenetic analysis. The tasty T. melanosporum was clearly differentiated from the Chinese and less expensive truffles. These cheaper mushrooms were marketed as T. indicum but corresponded to a mix of three species. In total, the method confirmed misidentifications in 26% of commercial specimens. Several unknown blind-coded truffles were rapidly identified, with scores >= 2, using the Bruker Biotyper algorithm against MS databases. This study demonstrates that MALDI-TOF MS is a reliable, rapid and cheaper new tool compared with molecular methods for the identification of truffle species and could be used to control frauds in the truffle markets. It could also be useful for the certification of truffle-inoculated seedlings and/or diversity in forest ecosystems.

Background: Skin infections are among the leading causes of diseases in travelers. Diagnosing pathogens could be difficult., Method: We applied molecular assays for the diagnostic of a large collection of skin biopsies and swabs from travelers with suspected skin infections. All samples were tested by qPCR for Coxiella burnetti, Bartonella sp., Rickettsia sp., Borrelia sp., Ehrlichia sp., Tropheryma whipplei, Francisella tularensis, Mycobacteria sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Leishmania spp., Ortho poxvirus and Para poxvirus and then screened for the presence of bacteria by PCR amplification and sequencing, targeting the 16S rRNA gene., Results: From January 2009 to January 2017, 100 international travelers presenting with a suspected skin infection were enrolled. We detected 51 patients with an identified pathogen on skin samples. Travelers presenting with eschars were more likely to have a positive PCR sample (n = 44/76, 57.9%) compared to other patients (n = 7/24, 29.2%). Spotted fever group Rickettsia (n = 28) was the most frequently detected pathogens (19 R. africae, 6 R. conorii, 3 R. mongolitimonae); S. aureus were detected in 11 patients; S. pyogenes in 3; Leishmania sp.; M. leprae and B. henselae in 1 patient, respectively., Conclusion: By targeting the most commonly encountered causative agents of travel-related skin infections, our strategy provides a sensitive and rapid diagnostic method., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Outbreaks of Kingella kingae infection are an emerging public health concern among daycare attendees carrying epidemic clones in the oropharynx. However, genotyping of such epidemic clones from affected cases is limited by the low performance of current methods to detect K. kingae from blood samples and lack of specimens available from infected sites. We aimed at developing a modified multilocus sequence typing (MLST) method to genotype K. kingae strains from oropharyngeal samples without prior culture. We designed in silico MLST primers specific for K. kingae by aligning whole nucleotide sequences of abcZ, adk, aroE, cpn60, recA, and gdh/zwf genes from closely related species belonging to the Kingella and Neisseria genera. We tested our modified MLST protocol on all Kingella species and N. meningitidis, as well as 11 oropharyngeal samples from young children with sporadic (n = 10) or epidemic (n = 1) K. kingae infection., Results: We detected K. kingae-specific amplicons in the 11 oropharyngeal samples, corresponding to sequence-type 6 (ST-6) in 6 children including the epidemic cases, ST-25 in 2 children, and 3 possible novel STs (ST-67, ST-68, and ST-69). No amplicon was obtained from other Kingella species and N. meningitidis., Conclusions: We herein developed a specific MLST protocol that enables genotyping of K. kingae by MLST directly from oropharyngeal samples. This discriminatory tool, with which we identified the first K. kingae outbreak caused by ST-6 in Europe, may be used in further epidemiological investigations.

In Europe, ticks are the major arthropod vectors of disease agents to humans and domestic animals. They are capable of transmitting many pathogens most of which have been discovered or identified as tick-borne pathogens in the last 20 years. In recent years, unexplained syndromes occurring after a tick bite have become an increasingly important issue in public and animal health. Ticks and wildlife (the main reservoir of tick-borne pathogens) are highly susceptible to global environmental and socio-economic changes, which in turn may lead to an increased burden of tick-borne diseases. In this review, we explain the importance of a 'One Health' approach to better combat tick-borne diseases.

Ticks are the main vector for infectious disease pathogens in both humans and animals, and tick-borne diseases are currently spreading throughout Europe. Various surveillance methods have been developed to estimate the burden and risk of tick-borne diseases and host exposure to tick bites. The ultimate aims of these approaches are to determine the risk level of a tick-borne disease in a given area, determine its health priority, identify the at-risk population and propose specific countermeasures or complementary studies as needed. The purpose of this review is to present the current methods for monitoring the circulation of tick-borne diseases and to highlight the use of salivary antigens as original and recently developed serological tools that could be useful for tick bite risk assessment and could improve the current surveillance methods., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Tropheryma whipplei endocarditis differs from classic Whipple disease, which primarily affects the gastrointestinal system. We diagnosed 28 cases of T. whipplei endocarditis in Marseille, France, and compared them with cases reported in the literature. Specimens were analyzed mostly by molecular and histologic techniques. Duke criteria were ineffective for diagnosis before heart valve analysis. The disease occurred in men 40-80 years of age, of whom 21 (75%) had arthralgia (75%); 9 (32%) had valvular disease and 11 (39%) had fever. Clinical manifestations were predominantly cardiologic. Treatment with doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine for at least 12 months was successful. The cases we diagnosed differed from those reported from Germany, in which arthralgias were less common and previous valve lesions more common. A strong geographic specificity for this disease is found mainly in eastern-central France, Switzerland, and Germany. T. whipplei endocarditis is an emerging clinical entity observed in middle-aged and older men with arthralgia.

Tick-borne rickettsioses are caused by obligate intracellular bacteria belonging to the spotted fever group of the genus Rickettsia. These zoonoses are among the oldest known vector-borne diseases. However, in the past 25 years, the scope and importance of the recognized tick-associated rickettsial pathogens have increased dramatically, making this complex of diseases an ideal paradigm for the understanding of emerging and reemerging infections. Several species of tick-borne rickettsiae that were considered nonpathogenic for decades are now associated with human infections, and novel Rickettsia species of undetermined pathogenicity continue to be detected in or isolated from ticks around the world. This remarkable expansion of information has been driven largely by the use of molecular techniques that have facilitated the identification of novel and previously recognized rickettsiae in ticks. New approaches, such as swabbing of eschars to obtain material to be tested by PCR, have emerged in recent years and have played a role in describing emerging tick-borne rickettsioses. Here, we present the current knowledge on tick-borne rickettsiae and rickettsioses using a geographic approach toward the epidemiology of these diseases.

The aim of the study was to reveal new aspects of the role of flea vector taken from migratory birds by screening of specimens with molecular biological methods. A field study was done in fishponds in Slovakia. Actually, 47 fleas were collected from reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and their nests. DNA was extracted and analyzed for representatives of the orders Rickettsiales. A rickettsia that shares 99.7% of identity by gltA gene with Rickettsia africae was identified in Ceratophyllus garei collected from A. scirpaceus. Moreover, two Wolbachia sp. were also detected in fleas. This is the first record of R. africae and Wolbachia sp. identified so far in Central Europe in fleas collected from migratory bird returning from Africa. This molecular study extends the geographic range and vector spectrum of arthropod-borne agents.

Mediterranean spotted fever is the most important tick-borne disease occurring in Southern Europe and North Africa. The first case of this life-threatening zoonosis was reported in 1910. In the 1930s, the role of the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and the causative agent, Rickettsia conorii were described. However, basic questions regarding the relationships between the rickettsia and its tick vector are still unresolved, and the life cycle of R. conorii is incompletely known. There is a lack of knowledge associated with the role of Rh. sanguineus in the maintenance and transmission of R. conorii. The infectious rate of Rh. sanguineus ticks with R. conorii has been found low every time it has been tested; usually lower that 1%. The deleterious impact of R. conorii on ticks has been suggested in experimental models as a potential reason to explain a low prevalence in nature. The long-recognized phenomenon known as reactivation has been suggested as a cause of negative effects--that is, the change in temperature and physiology of the tick host induces the agent to emerge from dormancy and attain infectivity with bad effects on ticks. However, naturally infected colonies of ticks have been maintained in laboratory conditions over several generations. We discuss here several aspects that have been recently studied to better understand Rh. sanguineus-R. conorii relationships, including comparison between the fitness of infected and non-infected ticks in laboratory conditions and the role of external factors such as temperature and starvation.

Ticks are obligate blood-sucking arthropods that transmit pathogens while feeding, and in Europe, more vector-borne diseases are transmitted to humans by ticks than by any other agent. In addition to neurotoxins, ticks can transmit bacteria (e.g. rickettsiae, spirochetes) viruses and protozoa. Some tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease and ehrlichiosis, can cause severe or fatal illnesses. Here, we examine tick-borne diseases other than Lyme disease that are found in Europe; namely: anaplasmosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne babesiosis and tick-borne rickettsiosis. Each disease is broken down into a description, epidemiology, signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, providing clear overviews of each disease course and the interventions required. Furthermore, in the section concerning tick-borne rickettsiosis, a clear summary of the Rickettsia conorii complex and its role in the disease is provided., (Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Mediterranean spotted fever due to Rickettsia conorii conorii was thought, for many years, to be the only tick-borne rickettsial disease prevalent in southern and eastern Europe. However, in recent years, six more species or subspecies within the spotted fever group of the genus Rickettsia have been described as emerging pathogens in this part of the world. Tick-borne agents include Rickettsia conorii israelensis, Rickettsia conorii caspia, Rickettsia aeschlimannii, Rickettsia slovaca, Rickettsia sibirica mongolitimonae and Rickettsia massiliae. Many Rickettsia of unknown pathogenicity have also been detected from ticks and could represent potential emerging pathogens to be discovered in the future. Furthermore, a new spotted fever rickettsia, Rickettsia felis, was found to be associated with cat fleas and is an emerging human pathogen. Finally, the mite-transmitted Rickettsia akari, the agent of rickettsialpox, is also known to be prevalent in Europe. We present here an overview of these rickettsioses, focusing on emerging diseases.

Bartonella henselae, a worldwide fastidious bacterium, has a feline reservoir and is pathogenic for humans. However, the relationship between human and cat isolates of B. henselae, as well as its population dynamics and geographic heterogeneity, is not fully understood, in part because of the absence of appropriate typing methods. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), the most discriminatory genotyping method for B. henselae, identified seven genotypes and suggested that human isolates arose from a limited number of cat isolates. Herein, we estimated the discriminatory power of multispacer typing (MST) by studying 126 B. henselae cat isolates from various areas of Europe, Asia, and the United States. We identified the nine most variable intergenic spacers conserved by both B. henselae and Bartonella quintana genomes. By comparing the sequences obtained from these nine spacers for each studied isolate, we identified 39 MST genotypes. The distribution of isolates into MST genotypes matched their phylogenetic organization into four clusters. MST showed that European and Asian isolates were different, in contrast with American isolates, but failed to identify pandemic strains. Our study demonstrated that MST is a powerful method for genotyping B. henselae at the strain level and may serve in studying the population dynamics of this bacterium and understanding the relationships between cat and human isolates. Finally, we provide a free-access MST-Rick online software program (http://ifr48.timone.univ-mrs.fr/MST_BHenselae/mst) that investigators may use to compare their own MST sequences to our database.

We report that eight patients from France, Italy, and Thailand had serological evidence of Rickettsia helvetica infection. The infection presented as a mild disease in the warm season and was associated with fever, headache, and myalgia but not with a cutaneous rash. R. helvetica should be suspected in patients with unexplained fever, especially following a bite from an Ixodes sp. tick.

Astrakhan fever is a summer spotted fever resembling Mediterranean spotted fever, endemic in Astrakhan, a region of Russia located by the Caspian sea. Its agent is a spotted fever group rickettsia, member of the Rickettsia conorii complex, transmitted to humans by Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Rhipicephalus pumilio ticks. In Summer 2001, French United Nations troops in Kosovo collected 2 ticks on asymptomatic soldiers (1 R. sanguineus and 1 Hyalomma marginatum) and 10 ticks on dogs (7 R. sanguineus, 2 Ixodes ricinus, and 1 H. marginatum) in the Morina region. By PCR amplification of both the gltA and ompA genes, we detected a rickettsia in 4 R. sanguineus, i.e., 3 of those collected on dogs and those taken from military personnel. As ticks were preserved in alcohol, culture was not possible. The sequences obtained from these PCR products identified, with a 100% homology, Astrakhan fever rickettsia. None of the other collected tick species was positive. The patient with the positive tick remained asymptomatic. Our study demonstrates, for the first time, the presence of Astrakhan fever rickettsia in ticks outside Russia. We suspect that the area of distribution of this rickettsia could be wider than initially suspected. Moreover, as R. sanguineus ticks bite humans, Astrakhan fever might be a cause of spotted fever in Kosovo.