Babesiosis Acquired through Blood Transfusion, California, USA

Babesiosis was reported in a California resident who received a transfusion of blood products collected in the disease-endemic northeastern region of the United States. Babesiosis should be considered year-round in the diagnosis of febrile and afebrile patients with abnormal blood cell counts who have received blood products from disease-endemic areas

Babesia sp. EU1 from Roe Deer and Transmission within Ixodes ricinus

We report in vitro culture of zoonotic Babesia sp. EU1 from blood samples of roe deer in France. This study provides evidence of transovarial and transstadial transmission of the parasite within Ixodes ricinus, which suggests that this tick could be a vector and reservoir of EU1

Babesia divergens–like Infection, Washington State

Most reported U.S. zoonotic cases of babesiosis have occurred in the Northeast and been caused by Babesia microti. In Washington State, three cases of babesiosis have been reported previously, which were caused by WA1 (for “Washington 1”)-type parasites. We investigated a case of babesiosis in Washington in an 82–year-old man whose spleen had been removed and whose parasitemia level was 41.4%. The complete 18S ribosomal RNA gene of the parasite was amplified from specimens of his whole blood by polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analysis showed the parasite is most closely related, but not identical, to B. divergens (similarity score, 99.5%), a bovine parasite in Europe. By indirect fluorescent-antibody testing, his serum reacted to B. divergens but not to B. microti or WA1 antigens. This case demonstrates that babesiosis can be caused by novel parasites detectable by manual examination of blood smears but not by serologic or molecular testing for B. microti or WA1-type parasites

Eukaryotic Fatty Acylation Drives Plasma Membrane Targeting and Enhances Function of Several Type III Effector Proteins from Pseudomonas syringae

AbstractBacterial pathogens of plants and animals utilize conserved type III delivery systems to traffic effector proteins into host cells. Plant innate immune systems evolved disease resistance (R) genes to recognize some type III effectors, termed avirulence (Avr) proteins. On disease-susceptible (r) plants, Avr proteins can contribute to pathogen virulence. We demonstrate that several type III effectors from Pseudomonas syringae are targeted to the host plasma membrane and that efficient membrane association enhances function. Efficient localization of three Avr proteins requires consensus myristoylation sites, and Avr proteins can be myristoylated inside the host cell. These prokaryotic type III effectors thus utilize a eukaryote-specific posttranslational modification to access the subcellular compartment where they function

Can social marketing make 20mph the new norm?

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This paper reports the findings of a study that explored the possible role for social marketing in supporting compliance with 20. mph signs-only speed limits. The study, completed in July 2012, involved a review of the literature, the re-visiting of case studies of existing and planned 20. mph signs-only schemes, mainly within Great Britain, and a qualitative research project with the citizens of Bristol, England. A key finding was the mismatch between people's apparent support for 20. mph limits and their actual driving behaviour. The qualitative research focused on investigating this gap. A range of groups of Bristol drivers and residents were recruited for the research to provide insights into why some people may not comply with 20. mph limits where they are in place, and what could be done to counter this non-compliance.The findings suggest three possible driver types in relation to 20. mph areas: 'champions', 'pragmatists' and 'opponents'. The paper discusses the possible mapping of these types onto Moore's 'crossing the chasm' variant of Rogers[U+05F3] diffusion of an innovation model. Here, the 'chasm' represents the difficulty in encouraging compliance amongst pragmatists in the same way as champions. Based on this, it is suggested that social marketing techniques can provide a 'bridge' over this 'chasm' to pragmatists by helping position 20. mph limits as the new norm for urban areas. The mechanism for change would be to support 20. mph as the descriptive norm (what people believe is normal) as well as the injunctive norm (what people think should be normal). In theory, a social contagion effect would help to spread the new behaviour amongst pragmatists-eventually generating a tipping point in which pragmatists would move en-masse, quickly shifting from driving at 30. mph in urban areas to 20. mph-'because everyone else does'

Cervids as Babesiae Hosts, Slovenia

We describe cervids as potential reservoir hosts of Babesia EU1 and B. divergens. Both babesial parasites were found in roe deer. Sequence analysis of 18S rRNA showed 99.7% identity of roe deer Babesia EU1 with the human EU1 strain. B. divergens detected in cervids was 99.6% identical to bovine B. divergens

Babesia microti infection changes host spleen architecture and is cleared by a Th1 immune response

Babesia microti is a malaria-like parasite, which infects ~2000 people annually, such that babesiosis is now a notifiable disease in the United States. Immunocompetent individuals often remain asymptomatic and are tested only after they feel ill. Susceptible C3H/HeJ mice show several human-like disease manifestations and are ideal to study pathogenesis of Babesia species. In this study, we examined parasitemia of B. microti at different time points and assessed its impact on hemoglobin levels in blood, on spleen pathology and overall immune response in C3H/HeJ mice. Peak parasitemia of 42.5% was immediately followed by diminished hemoglobin level. Parasitemia at 21 days of infection was barely detectable by microscopy presented 5.7 × 108 to 5.9 × 109 B. microti DNA copies confirming the sensitivity of our qPCR. We hypothesize that qPCR detects DNA released from recently lysed parasites or from extracellular B. microti in blood, which are not easily detected in blood smears and might result in under-diagnosis of babesiosis in patients. Splenectomized patients have been reported to show increased babesiosis severity and result in high morbidity and mortality. These results emphasize the importance of splenic immunity in resolution of B. microti infection. Splenomegaly in infected mice associated with destruction of marginal zone with lysed erythrocytes and released B. microti life forms in our experiments support this premise. At conclusion of the experiment at 21 days post-infection, significant splenic B and T cells depletion and increase in macrophages levels were observed in B. microti infected mice suggesting a role of macrophage in disease resolution. Infected mice also showed significantly higher plasmatic concentration of CD4 Th1 cells secreted cytokines such as IL-2 and IFN-γ while cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 secreted by Th2 cells increase was not always significant. Thus, Th1 cells-mediated immunity appears to be important in clearance of this intracellular pathogen. Significant increase in IL-6 that promotes differentiation of Th17 cells was observed but it resulted in only moderate change in IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, and IL-22, all secreted by Th17 cells. A similar immune response to Trypanosoma infection has been reported to influence the clearance of this protozoan, and co-infecting pathogen(s)