Outbreak News Radio

November is C. diff awareness month and the Peggy Lillis Foundation is out there leading the charge building awareness by educating the public, empowering advocates, and shaping policy.

Joining me today to talk about Clostridioides difficile, C diff awareness month and the work of the Peggy Lillis Foundation is Daniel Freedberg, MD. Dr. Freedberg is Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine & Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and Christian John Lillis. Christian is the Executive Director of the Peggy Lillis Foundation and her oldest son.

There are a number of multistate salmonella outbreaks currently being investigated by federal and state health officials--in salami sticks, in seafood, and of course onions.

Here to discuss the bacterium, Salmonella and the infection, the multistate outbreak linked to onions and some general food safety and handling tips is Trevor Craig. Mr. Craig is Food Safety consultant and food and nutrition Director at Microbac Laboratories.

Cryptococcus gattii is a fungus that lives in the environment in primarily tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world but also in some temperate regions such as British Columbia and some parts of the United States.

C. gattii cryptococcosis is a rare infection that people can get after breathing in the microscopic fungus. Scientists found that the disease also killed porpoises and dolphins in the Salish Sea.

In a new study published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, researchers explore how human-caused changes on land can affect aquatic animals, specifically in the case of the fungal pathogen, Cryptococcus gattii.

Joining me today to discuss this topic is research assistant at the SeaDoc Society, a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and lead author, Sarah Teman.

Last week, a bipartisan bill was introduced--the Finding Orphan-disease Remedies with Antifungal Research and Development Act (FORWARD Act) of 2021.

The legislation, introduced by members of the Congressional Valley Fever Task Force, is designed to address challenges related to detecting, treating and ultimately eliminating Valley fever by incentivizing antifungal therapeutics and vaccine development.

Joining me today to talk about Valley fever and the FORWARD Act is John Galgiani, MD. Dr Galgiani is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona.

The bacteria that causes the neglected tropical disease, Leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae, was once thought to be an obligate human pathogen.

However, they have been shown to be found in captive non-human primates, armadillos and most recently, red squirrels.

A recent study published in Nature showed that two populations of wild chimpanzees found in two West African countries contracted leprosy.

In this video, I'll look at leprosy, or Hansen's disease in humans, touch on leprosy in armadillos and red squirrels and close out with a little information about the wild chimpanzees.

There are five Plasmodium species that cause malaria with the vast majority of reported cases being due to Plasmodium falciparum.

Plasmodium vivax is the second most common reported cause of malaria.

My guest today says P. vivax infections represent a major unrecognized burden on global health calling it "obscure and insidious" and we'll take a look at why he says this.

Joining me today to discuss Plasmodium vivax, it's burden and a new study published in PLoS Medicine is Kevin Baird, PhD.

Professor Baird is the head of the Eijkman-Oxford Research Unit in Jakarta, Indonesia and Professor of Malariology, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.

In today's Outbreak News This Week Livestream, I'll look at some recent polio news to include a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus 2 (cVDPV2) case reported in Ukraine.

In addition, Ebola appears to have resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I'll look at an article about H5N6 avian influenza, piggy-backing on last week's show.

There was an additional Naegleria fowleri case, this one in Arlington, Texas, where the child contracted the parasite at a splash pad. The parents are suing the city.

On today's livestream, I'll be looking at the human rabies case in Illinois, H5N6 avian influenza in China in 2021, dengue in South Asia and the outbreaks in Nigeria.

World Rabies Day is celebrated annually to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this horrifying disease.

28 September also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur's death, the French chemist and microbiologist, who developed the first rabies vaccine.

Texas State University's Dr. Rodney Rohde and from the Texas DSHS Zoonosis Control Branch, Dr. Pamela Wilson joined me for a discussion on this serious zoonotic disease.

Naegleria fowleri is a microscopic amoeba which is a single-celled living organism. It can cause a rare and devastating infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

The amoeba is commonly found in warm freshwater such as lakes, rivers, ponds and canals.

Infections can happen when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. Once the amoeba enters the nose, it travels to the brain where it causes PAM (which destroys brain tissue) and is usually fatal.

So how does the body's immune system react to the parasite and what research is being done on the immune response?

Joining me today to discuss this is Ashley Moseman, PhD. Dr. Moseman is an immunologist at Duke University and his lab is studying the host immune response to Naegleria fowleri.