All Posts Tagged With: "School of Veterinary Medicine"

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20618646&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Granulocytic anaplasmosis (GA) and Lyme borreliosis are emerging
tick-borne diseases caused by infection with Anaplasma
phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi, respectively, and
maintained in rodent-Ixodes spp. tick cycles, including I.
pacificus in the western U.S. Ixodes pacificus has a
multiple-year life cycle and B. burgdorferi and A.
phagocytophilum are transstadially, but not transovarially,
transmitted within ticks, thus ticks function importantly in
maintaining infection in nature. In this study, the survival of
larval and nymphal I. pacificus was determined using ticks placed
in tubes in leaf litter from June 2005 to September 2006 at two
field sites in the California northern coast range mountains and
a laboratory control. In all three sites, nymphal and larval
survival ranged from 90-400 d, with differences in mean survival
among sites. Fewer ticks died in the autumn in the moister field
sites compared with the drier incubator control treatment.

Excerpt:

Abstract – Neuropathogenic protozoa have evolved strategies to
breach the blood-brain barrier and invade the central nervous
system. These include transcellular, paracellular and the Trojan
horse routes but the associated molecular mechanisms remain
incompletely understood. Here, we summarize the current
understanding of protozoa penetration across the blood-brain
barrier, focusing on Plasmodium, Babesia, Trypanosoma,
Toxoplasma, Acanthamoeba and Balamuthia. Advances in
understanding the molecular pathways will offer opportunities for
the rational development of novel therapeutic interventions.

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pu
bmed&id=20148999&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 20148999

Excerpt:

Summary Cat scratch disease is the most common zoonotic infection
caused by Bartonella bacteria. Among the many mammals infected
with Bartonella spp., cats represent a large reservoir for human
infection, as they are the main reservoir for Bartonella
henselae, Bartonella clarridgeiae and Bartonella koehlerae.
Bartonella spp. are vector-borne bacteria, and transmission of B.
henselae by cat fleas occurs mainly through infected flea faeces,
although new potential vectors (ticks and biting flies) have been
identified. Dogs are also infected with various Bartonella
species and share with humans many of the clinical signs induced
by these infections. Although the role of dogs as source of human
infection is not yet clearly established, they represent
epidemiological sentinels for human exposure. Present knowledge
on the aetiology, clinical features and epidemiological
characteristics of bartonellosis is presented.