Neglected bacterial zoonoses

Abstract

Bacterial zoonoses comprise a group of diseases in humans or animals acquired by direct contact with or by oral consumption of contaminated animal materials, or via arthropod vectors. Among neglected infections, bacterial zoonoses are among the most neglected given emerging data on incidence and prevalence as causes of acute febrile illness, even in areas where recognized neglected tropical diseases occur frequently. While many other bacterial infections could also be considered in this neglected category, five distinct infections stand out because they are globally distributed, are acute febrile diseases, have high rates of morbidity and case fatality, and are reported as commonly as malaria, typhoid or dengue virus infections in carefully designed studies in which a broad spectrum diagnoses are actively sought. Thus, this review will focus attention on leptospirosis, relapsing fever borreliosis, and rickettsioses, including scrub typhus, murine typhus and spotted fever group rickettsiosis. Of greatest interest is the lack of distinguishing clinical features among these infections when in humans, which confounds diagnosis where laboratory confirmation is lacking, and in regions where clinical diagnosis is often attributed to one of several perceived more common threats. As diseases such as malaria come under improved control, the real impact of these common and under-recognized infections will become evident, as will the requirement for the strategies and allocation of resources for their control.

Opossums and Cat Fleas: New Insights in the Ecology of Murine Typhus in Galveston, Texas

“…For these reasons, murine typhus is mostly underdiagnosed and is often not appreciated as a cause of disease. 3 Although often ignored or deemed irrelevant as a cause of febrile illness, murine typhus continues to emerge as a cause of illness in communities in the United States. [4][5][6] It has also been increasingly recognized as a cause of fever in returning travelers.…”

Emerging bacterial pathogens: the past and beyond

“…Zoonotic agents can be transmitted to humans through direct contact, bites or scratches, arthropod vectors, consumption of contaminated food and contact with carcasses or feces-contaminated environmental sources such as water or soil [41]. An alternate important reservoir for prokaryotes is water sources, notably through amoebae-contaminated water.…”

Severe Murine Typhus Presenting with Acalculous Cholecystitis: A Case Report and Literature Review

“…The main vector is the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis , although other arthropods, such as the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis , have been implicated in the life cycle of R. typhi [1–3]. Humans are considered accidental hosts, primarily contaminated by inoculation of the rickettsiae through a fleabite site on their skin [2, 3].…”