(Arizona State University 27 June 2012) Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) is the causative agent of typhoid fever, a serious health threat resulting in some 22 million new cases yearly and approximately 217,000 fatalities. Karen Brenneman and her colleagues at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have been examining ways to detect the presence of S. Typhi in stool following inoculation with various vaccine strains.
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(University of Massachusetts at Amherst 28 June 2012) Many of these pathogens are listed as bioterrorism agents by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It could become very important in the future to be able to mount an entirely new defense against their extremely effective methods of infecting populations with virulent bacterial diseases.
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Posted in Microbiology
Tagged Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia pestis
EurekAlert University of Califormia 21 June 2012
A team of researchers led by UC Davis Health System has found that human alpha-defensin 6 (HD6) – a key component of the body’s innate defense system – binds to microbial surfaces and forms “nanonets” that surround, entangle and disable microbes, preventing bacteria from attaching to or invading intestinal cells.
The research describes an entirely new mechanism of action for defensins, an important group of molecules known to bolster the defenses of circulating white blood cells, protect cellular borders from invasive pathogens and regulate which “friendly” microbes can colonize body surfaces. The discovery provides important clues to inflammatory bowel diseases, especially Crohn’s disease, which may be caused, in part, by deficiencies in HD6 levels or function.
A paper describing the work appears in the June 22 issue of the journal Science.
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(Trinity College Dublin 23 April 2012) Scientists have discovered multiple gene switches in Salmonella that offer new ways to curb human infection. The discovery of the mechanisms of gene regulation could lead to the development of antibiotics to reduce the levels of disease caused by Salmonella.
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ABC News April 20, 2012
Another western Queensland council has issued an alert for residents to boil all drinking water.
The Winton Shire Council says salmonella has been found in the town’s water supply and residents should boil all water if it is being used for drinking or food preparation.
Eromanga residents in the south-west have also been boiling drinking water since February, due to an E.coli contamination.
Winton council CEO Tom Upton says the council is working with Queensland Health but it is believed the problem is at the town’s water tower.
“The inside of the water tower has not been cleaned to our knowledge since it was built,” he said.
“We’ve taken the interim steps to make sure we’ve got the potential risk areas isolated at the moment.
“What we will do now is engage contractors to clean the inside of the water tower. We’ll give it another hit with chlorine, we’ll flush it out.
“Perhaps by the end of next week we’ll be able to lift the boiled water precautionary warning.
“We drink artesian water. The water comes out of the ground at 86 degrees, so there is a fairly high level of assurance that there is nothing coming out of the watertable, because almost all bacteria die at 75 degrees.
“We believe that we have isolated it to the water tower rather than the water coming out of the ground, so we’ve isolated the water tower and we’ve taken it offline from the supply.”
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Posted in Water analysis - biological contamination
Tagged Rainwater, Salmonella, Water pollution, Winton
University of California – Santa Barbara 12-Apr-2012
A recent discovery of “hypervirulent” Salmonella bacteria has given UC Santa Barbara researchers Michael Mahan and Douglas Heithoff a means to potentially prevent food poisoning outbreaks from these particularly powerful strains. Their findings, in a paper titled “Intraspecies Variation in the Emergence of Hyperinfectious Bacterial Strains in Nature,” have been published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
(American Chemical Society 27 March 2012) How about a test that identifies Salmonella, the food poisoning bacteria that sickens millions of people each year, in five minutes, so that shipments of lettuce can be confiscated before they reach the table? Scientists today described development and successful testing of just such a test in a presentation here at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.
(Society for General Microbiology 25 march 2012) The ripeness of fruit could determine how food-poisoning bacteria grow on them, according to scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Spring Conference in Dublin this week. Their work could lead to new strategies to improve food safety, bringing many health and economic benefits
(University of California – Irvine 14 March 2012) UC Irvine researchers have discovered how Salmonella, a bacterium found in contaminated raw foods that causes major gastrointestinal distress in humans, thrives in the digestive tract despite the immune system’s best efforts to destroy it.
Bloomberg Business Week Stephanie Armour 8 February 2012
A public health group is pressing the Obama administration to ban sales of uncooked meat containing drug-resistant salmonella after an outbreak sickened 20 people in seven states. The center is petitioning the USDA to ban four strains of salmonella, including one type found in ground beef. The government now bans a single pathogen in unprocessed meat: a strain of E. coli called O157:H7 that triggered a 1994 outbreak.
