Bioterrorism and Infectious Agents: A New Dilemma for the 21st Century

Fong, I. W.; Alibek, Ken

doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-1266-4

2009

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-1266-4

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Bioterrorism and Infectious Agents: A New Dilemma for the 21st Century

I. W. Fong¹,

Ken Alibek²

Abstract: A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information, please contact the publisher.

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Cited by 7 publications

References 454 publications

(648 reference statements)

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Raman spectroscopic detection and identification of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei in feedstuff

et al. 2014

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Burkholderia mallei (the etiologic agent of glanders in equines and rarely humans) and Burkholderia pseudomallei, causing melioidosis in humans and animals, are designated category B biothreat agents. The intrinsically high resistance of both agents to many antibiotics, their potential use as bioweapons, and their low infectious dose, necessitate the need for rapid and accurate detection methods. Current methods to identify these organisms may require up to 1 week, as they rely on phenotypic characteristics and an extensive set of biochemical reactions. In this study, Raman microspectroscopy, a cultivation-independent typing technique for single bacterial cells with the potential for being a rapid point-of-care analysis system, is evaluated to identify and differentiate B. mallei and B. pseudomallei within hours. Here, not only broth-cultured microbes but also bacteria isolated out of pelleted animal feedstuff were taken into account. A database of Raman spectra allowed a calculation of classification functions, which were trained to differentiate Raman spectra of not only both pathogens but also of five further Burkholderia spp. and four species of the closely related genus Pseudomonas. The developed two-stage classification system comprising two support vector machine (SVM) classifiers was then challenged by a test set of 11 samples to simulate the case of a real-world-scenario, when "unknown samples" are to be identified. In the end, all test set samples were identified correctly, even if the contained bacterial strains were not incorporated in the database before or were isolated out of animal feedstuff. Specifically, the five test samples bearing B. mallei and B. pseudomallei were correctly identified on species level with accuracies between 93.9 and 98.7%. The sample analysis itself requires no biomass enrichment step prior to the analysis and can be performed under biosafety level 1 (BSL 1) conditions after inactivating the bacteria with formaldehyde.

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Raman spectroscopic detection and identification of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei in feedstuff

et al. 2014

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Plague Prevention and Therapy: Perspectives on Current and Future Strategies

et al. 2021

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Plague, caused by the bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis, is a vector-borne disease that has caused millions of human deaths over several centuries. Presently, human plague infections continue throughout the world. Transmission from one host to another relies mainly on infected flea bites, which can cause enlarged lymph nodes called buboes, followed by septicemic dissemination of the pathogen. Additionally, droplet inhalation after close contact with infected mammals can result in primary pneumonic plague. Here, we review research advances in the areas of vaccines and therapeutics for plague in context of Y. pestis virulence factors and disease pathogenesis. Plague continues to be both a public health threat and a biodefense concern and we highlight research that is important for infection mitigation and disease treatment.

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Pneumonic Plague: Incidence, Transmissibility and Future Risks

Evans

2022

Hygiene

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Pneumonic plague outbreaks are relatively infrequent in modern times, but in the early part of the 20th century, they were commonplace including several well-documented epidemics responsible for the deaths of thousands. The transmissibility of this disease seems to be discontinuous since in some outbreaks few transmissions occur, while in others, the progression of the epidemic is explosive. Modern epidemiological studies explain that transmissibility within populations is heterogenous with relatively few subjects likely to be responsible for most transmissions and that ‘super spreading events’, particularly at the start of an outbreak, can lead to a rapid expansion of cases. These findings concur with outbreaks observed in real-world situations. It is often reported that pneumonic plague is rare and not easily transmitted but this view could lead to unnecessary complacency since future risks such as the spontaneous incidence of anti-microbial strains, climate change leading to a disruption of natural cycles within plague foci and use of plague as a bioweapon cannot be discounted. Carers and first responders are vulnerable, particularly in poorer countries where access to medicines and protection equipment may be limited, outbreaks occur in inaccessible areas or where there is a lack of surveillance due to a paucity of funds.

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Bioterrorism and Infectious Agents: A New Dilemma for the 21st Century

Abstract: A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information, please contact the publisher.

Cited by 7 publications

References 454 publications

Raman spectroscopic detection and identification of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei in feedstuff

Raman spectroscopic detection and identification of Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei in feedstuff

Plague Prevention and Therapy: Perspectives on Current and Future Strategies

Pneumonic Plague: Incidence, Transmissibility and Future Risks

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