Distinct Campylobacter fetus lineages adapted as livestock pathogens and human pathobionts in the intestinal microbiota

Campylobacter fetus is a venereal pathogen of cattle and sheep, and an opportunistic human pathogen. It is often assumed that C. fetus infection occurs in humans as a zoonosis through food chain transmission. Here we show that mammalian C. fetus consists of distinct evolutionary lineages, primarily associated with either human or bovine hosts. We use whole-genome phylogenetics on 182 strains from 17 countries to provide evidence that C. fetus may have originated in humans around 10,500 years ago and may have "jumped" into cattle during the livestock domestication period. We detect C. fetus genomes in 8% of healthy human fecal metagenomes, where the human-associated lineages are the dominant type (78%). Thus, our work suggests that C. fetus is an unappreciated human intestinal pathobiont likely spread by human to human transmission. This genome-based evolutionary framework will facilitate C. fetus epidemiology research and the development of improved molecular diagnostics and prevention schemes for this neglected pathoge

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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Long-term follow-up of astrocytic hamartoma of the optic disc associated with gyrate atrophy

This is a case report of a 15-year-old boy with multiple small peripapillary white growths in the right eye in the setting of gyrate atrophy. Over 3 years of follow-up, these lesions became more clearly delineated as astrocytic hamartomas of the retina and optic disc. In the setting of gyrate atrophy, astrocytic hamartomas are extremely rare. This report represents the second published case and includes characterization of these tumors using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography

Book reviews

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44969/1/10912_2005_Article_BF01115244.pd