Identification of Streptococcus suis Meningitis through Population-Based Surveillance, Togo, 2010-2014.

During 2010-2014, we enrolled 511 patients with suspected bacterial meningitis into surveillance in 2 districts of northern Togo. We identified 15 persons with Streptococcus suis infection; 10 had occupational contact with pigs, and 12 suffered neurologic sequelae. S. suis testing should be considered in rural areas of the African meningitis belt

Zoosporulation of a new Perkinsus species isolated from the gills of the softshell clam Mya arenaria

A gill-associated Perkinsus sp. isolated from the softshell clam (Myo arenaria) is described as a new species, P. chesapeaki sp. nov. Examination of the parasite in seawater cultures revealed life cycle stages and zoosporulation processes similar to those described for other species of the genus Perkinsus. Prezoosporangia developed thickened cell walls upon contraction of the cytoplasm and development of a distinctive clear area between the cell wall and the protoplast. Successive bipartition of the protoplast led to the formation of hundred\u27s of zoospores within mature sporangia. Zoospores were released into seawater through one or more discharge tubes, Ultrastructural studies revealed an oblong zoospore possessing two flagella that arose from a concave side located in the upper third of the zoospore body. The anterior flagellum possessed a unilateral array of hair-like structures. A large anterior vacuole and basolateral nucleus dominated the cytoplasm of the zoospore body. The presence of a rudimentary apical complex including an open-sided conoid, rhoptries, micronemes, and subpellicular microtubules were also discerned. Differences in zoospore morphology, and sequence analyses of two genes previously reported, support the designation of the gill-associated Perkinsus from the softshell clam as a new species

Responses of oysters and their hemocytes to clinical and environmental isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

598-599Interactions of Vibrio parahaemolyticus with oysters and oyster hemocytes were studied using three environmental isolates (1094, 1163 and ATCC 17802) and three clinical isolates (2030, 2062, 2107). Clinical isolates were from patients who became ill during the June 1998 food poisoning outbreak involving oysters from Galveston Bay in Texas. Environmental isolates were from oysters, crabs or sardines. All V. parahaemolyticus isolates possessed the thermolabile direct hemolysin (tlh) gene; only the clinical isolates had the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) gene (a putative virulence determinant). The capacity of oyster hemocytes to kill each V. parahaemolyticus isolate was examined in vitro using a novel dye reduction assay. Differences in killing by oyster hemocytes existed between and among environmental and clinical isolates. On average, environmental isolates were more susceptible to hemocyte killing than clinical isolates. Clinical isolate 2062 was more susceptible to killing by oyster hemocytes than the other two clinical isolates (2030, 2107) and displayed the most diffuse colony morphology on nutrient agar plates. Also, unlike the other two isolates, it lacked identifiable Alcian Blue stabilized capsular material that appears as irregularly distributed, spike-like, electron-dense deposits often observed spanning gaps between cells. Additional experiments showed that when oysters were exposed to mixtures of a clinical (2030) and an environmental (1163) isolate, higher numbers of the clinical isolate were found in tissue and hemolymph. The significance of this research is that differences in V. parahaemolyticus isolates are described that influence ways in which these bacterial pathogens interact with oystershttp://gbic.tamug.edu/request.ht

Responses of oyster Crassostrea virginica hemocytes to environmental and clinical isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

11-20Ingestion of bacteria by oysters Crassostrea virginica and bactericidal activity of oyster hemocytes were studied using 4 environmental isolates (shellfish) and 3 clinical isolates (fecal) of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clinical isolates (2030, 2062, 2107) were obtained from the feces of patients with gastroenteritis who became ill during the 1998 food poisoning outbreak traced to consumption of raw oysters from Galveston Bay, Texas. This outbreak was the first reported occurrence in the United States of the virulent serotype O3:K6, Environmental isolates were from oysters (1094, 1100), crab (1163) and sardines (ATCC 17802). All isolates possessed the thermolabile direct hemolysin (tlh) gene, whereas only the clinical isolates possessed the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) gene, a virulence determinant. On average, environmental isolates were more susceptible than clinical isolates to killing by oyster hemocytes, as determined by an in vitro dye reduction assay. Isolate 2062 was the most susceptible of the clinical isolates; it lacked identifiable capsular material present in the other clinical isolates and displayed the most diffuse colony morphology on nutrient agar plates. When oysters were exposed in vivo to mixtures of a clinical (2030) and an environmental (1163) isolate, more clinical than environmental isolates were found in the tissues and hemolymphhttp://gbic.tamug.edu/request.ht