Last data update: Sep 23, 2024. (Total: 47723 publications since 2009)
Records 1-7 (of 7 Records) |
Query Trace: Ostroff SM [original query] |
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Yersinia enterocolitica infections associated with improperly pasteurized milk products: southwest Pennsylvania, March-August, 2011
Longenberger AH , Gronostaj MP , Yee GY , Johnson LM , Lando JF , Voorhees RE , Waller K , Weltman AC , Moll M , Lyss SB , Cadwell BL , Gladney LM , Ostroff SM . Epidemiol Infect 2013 142 (8) 1-11 In July 2011, a cluster of Yersinia enterocolitica infections was detected in southwestern Pennsylvania, USA. We investigated the outbreak's source and scope in order to prevent further transmission. Twenty-two persons were diagnosed with yersiniosis; 16 of whom reported consuming pasteurized dairy products from dairy A. Pasteurized milk and food samples were collected from this dairy. Y. enterocolitica was isolated from two products. Isolates from both food samples and available clinical isolates from nine dairy A consumers were indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Environmental and microbiological investigations were performed at dairy A and pasteurization deficiencies were noted. Because consumption of pasteurized milk is common and outbreaks have the potential to become large, public health interventions such as consumer advisories or closure of the dairy must be implemented quickly to prevent additional cases if epidemiological or laboratory evidence implicates pasteurized milk as the outbreak source. |
Human exposure to rabid free-ranging cats: a continuing public health concern in Pennsylvania
Campagnolo ER , Lind LR , Long JM , Moll ME , Rankin JT , Martin KF , Deasy MP , Dato VM , Ostroff SM . Zoonoses Public Health 2013 61 (5) 346-55 Rabid free-ranging cats have been a public health concern in Pennsylvania since raccoon variant rabies first was recognized in the state in the early 1980s. Over the last decade, between 1.5 and 2.5% of cats submitted to Pennsylvania's state laboratories for rabies testing have been positive. In this report, we describe the extent of rabies in free-ranging cats in Pennsylvania. We also present two examples of human exposure to rabid free-ranging cats that occurred in Pennsylvania during 2010-2011 and the public health actions taken to address rabies exposure in the humans and animals. We then describe the concerns surrounding the unvaccinated and free-ranging cat population in Pennsylvania and possible options in managing this public and animal health problem. |
West Nile virus: too important to forget
Ostroff SM . JAMA 2013 310 (3) 267-8 Another round of emerging infections is causing great concern among health authorities and the public. This February, a newly recognized novel influenza subtype (H7N9) appeared in China. By June, at least 38 deaths were attributed to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, a worrisome relative of the virus that spawned the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak.1 Although that outbreak occurred only 10 years ago, severe acute respiratory syndrome seems to have been erased from the collective memory of many health professionals. The same can be said of novel influenza. Today, the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic seems like ancient history. When it comes to emerging infections, short attention spans and poor memories often prevail, with serious consequences. | How easy it has been to forget that West Nile virus was the last major emerging infection of the 20th century. This virus mysteriously appeared in Queens, New York, late in the summer of 1999, after an apparent single-chance introduction by unknown means.2 This mosquito-transmitted virus was new to the Western Hemisphere. Infected crows were literally dropping from the sky, and severe, sometimes-fatal, human disease occurred with no prior warning. Complacency regarding the risk of mosquito-borne illness had led to major reductions in New York City’s vector-control program years earlier.3 Controversy accompanied the decision to use wide-scale aerial pesticide applications to reduce exposure to disease-carrying mosquitoes. These measures had not been used in New York City in many years and raised concerns about human toxicity and environmental damage. Similar concerns were expressed when spraying was performed in other urban centers in subsequent years. |
Investigating systematic misclassification of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) to secondary bloodstream infection during health care-associated infection reporting
Thompson ND , Yeh LL , Magill SS , Ostroff SM , Fridkin SK . Am J Med Qual 2013 28 (1) 56-9 Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates are an important measure of health care quality. However, reputational or financial risks associated with public reporting and disclosure of hospital CLABSI rates may introduce reporting biases, including intentional underreporting. To assess systematic case misclassification of CLABSI to secondary bloodstream infection (BSI; ie, intentional underreporting of CLABSI), the authors assessed data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network by hospitals in Pennsylvania, the only state in which both CLABSI and secondary BSI reporting are mandatory. CLABSI rates decreased over the 2-year analysis period, but the authors found no evidence of increasing secondary BSI rates, suggesting that systematic case misclassification is not widespread. |
Concurrent 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in ferrets and in a community in Pennsylvania
Campagnolo ER , Moll ME , Tuhacek K , Simeone AJ , Miller WS , Waller KO , Simwale O , Rankin JT , Ostroff SM . Zoonoses Public Health 2012 60 (2) 117-24 We report a fall 2010 cluster of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 (pH1N1) infections in pet ferrets in Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. The ferrets were associated with one pet shop. The influenza cluster occurred during a period when the existing human surveillance systems had identified little to no pH1N1 in humans in the Lehigh Valley, and there were no routine influenza surveillance systems for exotic pets. The index case was a 2.5-month-old neutered male ferret that was presented to a veterinary clinic with severe influenza-like illness (ILI). In response to laboratory notification of a positive influenza test result, and upon request from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH), the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) conducted an investigation to identify other ill ferrets and to identify the source and extent of infection. PDA notified the PADOH of the pH1N1 infection in the ferrets, leading to enhanced human surveillance and the detection of pH1N1 human infections in the surrounding community. Five additional ferrets with ILI linked to the pet shop were identified. This simultaneous outbreak of ferret and human pH1N1 demonstrates the important link between animal health and public health and highlights the potential use of veterinary clinics for sentinel surveillance of diseases shared between animals and humans. |
Fatal pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza A virus infection in a Pennsylvania domestic cat
Campagnolo ER , Rankin JT , Daverio SA , Hunt EA , Lute JR , Tewari D , Acland HM , Ostrowski SR , Moll ME , Urdaneta VV , Ostroff SM . Zoonoses Public Health 2011 58 (7) 500-7 We report the earliest recognized fatality associated with laboratory-confirmed pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza in a domestic cat in the United States. The 12-year old, indoor cat died on 6 November 2009 after exposure to multiple family members who had been ill with influenza-like illness during the peak period of the fall wave of pH1N1 in Pennsylvania during late October 2009. The clinical presentation, history, radiographic, laboratory and necropsy findings are presented to assist veterinary care providers in understanding the features of this disease in cats and the potential for transmission of infection to pets from infected humans. |
Measles outbreak associated with an international youth sporting event in the United States, 2007
Chen TH , Kutty P , Lowe LE , Hunt EA , Blostein J , Espinoza R , Dykewicz CA , Redd S , Rota JS , Rota PA , Lute JR , Lurie P , Nguyen MD , Moll M , Reef SE , Sinclair JR , Bellini WJ , Seward JF , Ostroff SM . Pediatr Infect Dis J 2010 29 (9) 794-800 BACKGROUND: Despite elimination of endemic measles in the United States (US), outbreaks associated with imported measles continue to occur. In 2007, the initiation of a multistate measles outbreak was associated with an imported case occurring in a participant at an international youth sporting event held in Pennsylvania. METHODS: Case finding and contact tracing were conducted. Control measures included isolating ill persons and administering postexposure prophylaxis to exposed persons without documented measles immunity. Laboratory evaluation of suspected cases and contacts included measles serologic testing, viral culture, detection of viral RNA by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, and viral genotyping. RESULTS: The index case occurred in a child from Japan aged 12 years. Contact tracing among 1250 persons in 8 states identified 7 measles cases; 5 (71%) cases occurred among persons without documented measles vaccination. Epidemiologic and laboratory investigation supported a single chain of transmission, linking the outbreak to contemporaneous measles virus genotype D5 transmission in Japan. Of the 471 event participants, 193 (41%) lacked documentation of presumed measles immunity, 94 (49%) of 193 were US-resident adults, 19 (10%) were non-US-resident adults (aged >18 years), and 80 (41%) were non-US-resident children. DISCUSSION: Measles outbreaks associated with imported disease are likely to continue in the US. Participants in international events, international travelers, and persons with routine exposure to such travelers might be at greater risk of measles. To reduce the impact of imported cases, high measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine coverage rates should be maintained throughout the US, and support should continue for global measles control and elimination. |
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