Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| infection control practitioners' perceptions and educational needs regarding bioterrorism: results from a national needs assessment survey. | the perceived threat that biological weapons will be used in an act of terror against the united states has escalated sharply since the discovery of anthrax-tainted letters after the terrorist attacks of september 11, 2001. these events underscore the critical nature of health care and public health preparedness and the need to augment infection control practitioner education and training. | 2003 | 12734517 |
| the anthrax team: a novel teaching approach to increase anthrax and bioterrorism awareness. | a team approach to educating staff regarding anthrax and bioterrorism awareness was implemented after the acts of terrorism that began september 11, 2001. "the anthrax team" developed algorithms on the basis of 5 different scenarios, an educational brochure, and a powerpoint presentation. with use of the algorithms and powerpoint material, the team conducted informal educational sessions to increase awareness and allay fears. on the basis of the success of this educational method, the teaching p ... | 2003 | 12734524 |
| anthrax and the mail: the making of an educational video for mail workers. | the anthrax bioterrorist attacks in 2001 affected millions of people who process, sort, and deliver mail. to more effectively communicate information intended to protect the health of these workers, the centers for disease control and prevention produced a short-format educational video in december 2001 that targets this diverse group. this report illustrates how an educational video can be rapidly produced to translate and disseminate public health recommendations as part of a public health eme ... | 2003 | 12734525 |
| amazing terrorism tool: new foam could revolutionize decon. | 2003 | 12736611 | |
| endemic gastrointestinal anthrax in 1960s lebanon: clinical manifestations and surgical findings. | anthrax is an ancient disease caused by the gram-positive bacillus anthracis; recently, it has gained much attention because of its potential use in biologic warfare. anthrax infection occurs in three forms: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. the last type results from ingestion of poorly cooked contaminated meat. intestinal anthrax was widely known in lebanon in the 1960s, when a series of >100 cases were observed in the bekaa valley. we describe some of these cases, introduce the c ... | 2003 | 12737733 |
| endemic, notifiable bioterrorism-related diseases, united states, 1992-1999. | little information is available in the united states regarding the incidence and distribution of diseases caused by critical microbiologic agents with the potential for use in acts of terrorism. we describe disease-specific, demographic, geographic, and seasonal distribution of selected bioterrorism-related conditions (anthrax, botulism, brucellosis, cholera, plague, tularemia, and viral encephalitides) reported to the national notifiable diseases surveillance system in 1992 to 1999. tularemia a ... | 2003 | 12737739 |
| a black necrotic ulcer. | 2003 | 12737863 | |
| anthrax vaccine. niaid's nasty surprise. | 2003 | 12738817 | |
| link between anthrax immunization and hypersensitivity pneumonitis? | 2003 | 12740301 | |
| a fragment of anthrax lethal factor delivers proteins to the cytosol without requiring protective antigen. | anthrax protective antigen (pa) is a 735-aa polypeptide that facilitates the exit of anthrax lethal factor (lf) from the endosome to the cytosol where the toxin acts. we recently found, however, that a fusion protein of the detoxified n-terminal domain of lethal factor (lfn) with a foreign peptide could induce cd8 t cell immune responses in the absence of pa. because cd8 t cells recognize peptides derived from proteins degraded in the cytosol, this result suggests that lethal factor may be capab ... | 2003 | 12740437 |
| [bioterrorism as a threat to safety. an evaluation of readiness degree of medical institutions to resist bioterrorism]. | 2003 | 12741359 | |
| gastric anthrax. | 2003 | 12741910 | |
| the history of anthrax. | anthrax, a potentially fatal infection, is a virulent and highly contagious disease. descriptions of this disease begin in antiquity, with the best ancient account being by the roman poet virgil. during the 19th century, anthrax was the infection involved in several important medical developments. it served as the prototype for koch's postulates regarding the causation of infectious disease. the first vaccine containing attenuated live organisms was louis pasteur's veterinary anthrax vaccine. in ... | 2003 | 12745053 |
| cutaneous anthrax associated with facial palsy: case report and literature review. | anthrax is primarily an animal disease. bacillus anthracis, the causal agent in anthrax, is a gram-positive rod. humans can acquire anthrax by industrial exposure to infected animals or animal products. | 2003 | 12745857 |
| inhalational anthrax due to bioterrorism: would current centers for disease control and prevention guidelines have identified the 11 patients with inhalational anthrax from october through november 2001? | a panel of 10 physicians used the nominal group technique to assess the ability of the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc) interim guidelines for clinical evaluation of persons with possible inhalational anthrax (ia) to retrospectively identify the 11 patients with ia seen during the october 2001 bioterrorism outbreak. the guidelines would not have identified 10 of 11 of these patients, primarily because the guidelines were designed to address only those patients with a known histor ... | 2003 | 12746773 |
| anthrax during pregnancy: case reports and review. | we review, in detail, 2 cases of anthrax during pregnancy, its maternal and perinatal complications, and its management. patient 1 was a 33-year-old woman at 32 weeks of gestation. she had a submandibular eschar; extensive edema on her face, neck, and upper thorax that inhibited respiratory function; and fever. the patient was treated with penicillin g and prednisolone after the diagnosis of anthrax. she recovered within 10 days but delivered a preterm baby. patient 2 was a 29-year-old woman at ... | 2003 | 12746784 |
| anthrax, botulism and tularemia in italy. | 2003 | 12749299 | |
| anthrax vaccine. niaid's $233 million problem put on hold. | 2003 | 12750485 | |
| recognition and management of bioterrorism infections. | recent events have demonstrated that bioterrorists have the ability to disseminate biologic agents in the united states and cause widespread social panic. family physicians would play a key role in the initial recognition of a potential bioterrorism attack. familiarity with the infectious agents of highest priority can expedite diagnosis and initial management, and lead to a successful public health response to such an attack. high-priority infectious agents include anthrax, smallpox, plague, tu ... | 2003 | 12751654 |
| genetic relationship in the 'bacillus cereus group' by rep-pcr fingerprinting and sequencing of a bacillus anthracis-specific rep-pcr fragment. | to evaluate the genetic relationship in the bacillus cereus group by rep-pcr fingerprinting. | 2003 | 12752821 |
| biological weapons preparedness: the role of physicians. | the real risk posed by biological weapons was demonstrated with the distribution of anthrax spores via the usa postal service in 2001. this review outlines the central roles of physicians in optimizing biopreparedness in australia, including maintaining awareness of the risk, promptly recognizing an event, notifying appropriate authorities upon suspicion of an event, and instituting appropriate management. management aspects covered include appropriate diagnostic tests, infection control procedu ... | 2003 | 12752895 |
| molecular detection of anthrax spores on animal fibres. | to develop a rapid, specific and sensitive diagnostic test for the detection of the spores of bacillus anthracis on commercial samples of animal fibres (e.g. wool and cashmere). | 2003 | 12753252 |
| genes of bacillus cereus and bacillus anthracis encoding proteins of the exosporium. | the exosporium is the outermost layer of spores of bacillus cereus and its close relatives bacillus anthracis and bacillus thuringiensis. for these pathogens, it represents the surface layer that makes initial contact with the host. to date, only the bcla glycoprotein has been described as a component of the exosporium; this paper defines 10 more tightly associated proteins from the exosporium of b. cereus atcc 10876, identified by n-terminal sequencing of proteins from purified, washed exospori ... | 2003 | 12754235 |
| the army chemical/biological smart (smart-cb) team: the nurse's role. | a chemical or biologic attack probably will be covert, rather than overt. because presenting signs and symptoms may mimic minor nonspecific illnesses or naturally produced disease syndromes and may not appear for several days, it is likely that nurses in emergency rooms and primary care settings will be among the first to come into contact with victims of a chemical or biologic agent exposure. early recognition, reporting, decontamination, self-protection, prophylaxis, and treatment are imperati ... | 2003 | 12755191 |
| structural studies on the hairpins at the 3' untranslated region of an anthrax toxin gene. | three proteins, namely, protective antigen (pa), edema factor (ef), and lethal factor (lf), encoded by the px01 plasmid of bacillus anthracis play a major role in the pathogenesis of target host cells. pa combines with ef and lf to form bipartite pa-ef and pa-lf toxins and facilitates intracellular delivery of ef and lf both of which cause cytotoxicity to the host. since the level of pa is crucial to pathogenesis by anthrax toxins, it is important to understand how the host environment regulates ... | 2003 | 12755609 |
| effective mucosal immunity to anthrax: neutralizing antibodies and th cell responses following nasal immunization with protective antigen. | mucosal, but not parenteral, immunization induces immune responses in both systemic and secretory immune compartments. thus, despite the reports that abs to the protective ag of anthrax (pa) have both anti-toxin and anti-spore activities, a vaccine administered parenterally, such as the aluminum-adsorbed anthrax vaccine, will most likely not induce the needed mucosal immunity to efficiently protect the initial site of infection with inhaled anthrax spores. we therefore took a nasal anthrax vacci ... | 2003 | 12759444 |
| variable sensitivity to bacterial methionyl-trna synthetase inhibitors reveals subpopulations of streptococcus pneumoniae with two distinct methionyl-trna synthetase genes. | as reported previously (j. r. jarvest et al., j. med. chem. 45:1952-1962, 2002), potent inhibitors (at nanomolar concentrations) of staphylococcus aureus methionyl-trna synthetase (mets; encoded by mets1) have been derived from a high-throughput screening assay hit. optimized compounds showed excellent activities against staphylococcal and enterococcal pathogens. we report on the bimodal susceptibilities of s. pneumoniae strains, a significant fraction of which was found to be resistant (mic, > ... | 2003 | 12760849 |
| biochemical characterization of beta-lactamases bla1 and bla2 from bacillus anthracis. | the sterne and ames strains of bacillus anthracis carry chromosomal genes bla1 and bla2, which confer beta-lactam resistance when expressed in escherichia coli. mic measurements and steady-state kinetic analyses indicate that bla1 possesses penicillinase activity while bla2 possesses penicillinase, cephalosporinase, and carbapenem-hydrolyzing activities. | 2003 | 12760895 |
| characterization of anthrolysin o, the bacillus anthracis cholesterol-dependent cytolysin. | we characterized the expression of a putative toxin of bacillus anthracis, a member of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (cdc) family, which includes listeriolysin o, perfringolysin o, and streptolysin o. we named this cytotoxin anthrolysin o (alo). although b. anthracis expresses minimal hemolytic activity in clinical settings, we show that sterne strain 7702 expresses hemolytic activity when grown in brain heart infusion broth or in other rich bacteriologic media, but it secretes barely dete ... | 2003 | 12761097 |
| mutational analysis of the enzymatic domain of clostridium difficile toxin b reveals novel inhibitors of the wild-type toxin. | toxin b (tcdb), a major clostridium difficile virulence factor, glucosylates and inactivates the small gtp-binding proteins rho, rac, and cdc42. in the present study we provide evidence that enzymatically inactive fragments of the tcdb enzymatic domain are effective intracellular inhibitors of native tcdb. site-directed and deletion mutants of the tcdb enzymatic region (residues 1 to 556), lacking receptor binding and cell entry domains, were analyzed for attenuation of glucosyltransferase and g ... | 2003 | 12761111 |
| veterinarians the 'first line of defense' in biologic attack. | 2003 | 12762371 | |
| in vitro-generated respiratory mucosa: a new tool to study inhalational anthrax. | we generated a three-dimensional (3-d) model of human airway tissues in order to study initiation of inhalational form of anthrax infection. the system was designed to model the air-blood barrier of the respiratory tract represented by epithelial cells and macrophages. when grown on collagen/fibronectin gel support at an air-liquid interface, airway epithelial cells formed cell layers morphologically resembling those in vivo. these preformed epithelial cell cultures were further supplemented wit ... | 2003 | 12763040 |
| bacillus spores for vaccine delivery. | spores of the genus bacillus have been used for a long time as probiotics for oral bacteriotherapy both in humans and in animals. spores are also employed in a veterinary vaccine against anthrax. despite this long lasting and extensive use, the specific contribution of spores to the beneficial effects of probiotics and to the immunogenicity of the vaccine is not completely elucidated. this review focuses on the different aspects of the use of spore preparations. in particular the use of recombin ... | 2003 | 12763690 |
| characterization of dominant-negative forms of anthrax protective antigen. | certain mutations within the protective antigen (pa) moiety of anthrax toxin endow the protein with a dominant-negative (dn) phenotype, converting it into a potent antitoxin. proteolytically activated pa oligomerizes to form ring-shaped heptameric complexes that insert into the membrane of an acidic intracellular compartment and promote translocation of bound edema factor and/or lethal factor to the cytosol. dn forms of pa co-oligomerize with the wild-type protein and block the translocation pro ... | 2003 | 12765339 |
| chemical weapon functional exercise--cincinnati: observations and lessons learned from a "typical medium-sized" city's response to simulated terrorism utilizing weapons of mass destruction. | in the wake of the september 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent anthrax scare, there is growing concern about the united states' vulnerability to terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction (wmd). as part of ongoing preparation for this terrible reality, many jurisdictions have been conducting simulated terrorist incidents to provide training for the public safety community, hospitals, and public health departments. as an example of this national effort to improve domestic preparedness for su ... | 2003 | 12766215 |
| bioterrorism web site resources for infectious disease clinicians and epidemiologists. | finding bioterrorism-related information on the world wide web can be laborious. we hope to help readers find such information more easily by summarizing essential information in a consistent framework. a panel of 7 centers for disease control and prevention reviewers identified web sites and evaluated them for sponsorship, mission, content usefulness, online ease of use, and adherence to commonly accepted quality criteria. of >100 potential sites identified, 81 were chosen for target content of ... | 2003 | 12766842 |
| alanine-scanning mutations in domain 4 of anthrax toxin protective antigen reveal residues important for binding to the cellular receptor and to a neutralizing monoclonal antibody. | a panel of variants with alanine substitutions in the small loop of anthrax toxin protective antigen domain 4 was created to determine individual amino acid residues critical for interactions with the cellular receptor and with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody, 14b7. substituted protective antigen proteins were analyzed by cellular cytotoxicity assays, and their interactions with antibody were measured by plasmon surface resonance and analytical ultracentrifugation. residue asp683 was the most ... | 2003 | 12771151 |
| [experiences with anthrax emergency measures during 2001 and 2002 in the city of essen]. | after the terrorist attacks of 11 september 2001 suspected cases of anthrax also occurred in germany. no case could be confirmed. from october 2001 to november 2002 the fire brigade of the city of essen was called in 110 cases of suspected anthrax contamination. in 78 cases specimens were transported to diagnostic laboratories, in 22 cases persons were transported. only in the first few days patients with suspected contamination had to stay in hospital and underwent chemoprophylaxis. cooperation ... | 2003 | 12772074 |
| characterizing a "new" disease: epizootic and epidemic anthrax, 1769-1780. | in 1876, robert koch established anthrax as the first disease linked to a microbial agent. but koch's efforts had followed more than 150 years of scientific progress in characterizing anthrax as a specific human and veterinary disease. focusing on france and the period between 1769 and 1780, this brief review examines noteworthy early events in the characterization of anthrax. it suggests that some "new" diseases like anthrax might be "discovered" not only by luck, brilliance, or new technologie ... | 2003 | 12773345 |
| u.s. military officer participation in the centers for disease control and prevention's epidemic intelligence service (1951-2001). | the epidemic intelligence service (eis) was created in 1951 to provide epidemiologists to investigate natural and intentional disease epidemics. from an initial class of 23 u.s. citizens, the program has evolved into a globally recognized, hands-on learning experience, accepting approximately 65 to 75 new officers each year. the first u.s. military epidemic intelligence service officer (eiso) was accepted into the program in 1994. since that time, 12 such officers have completed, or have begun, ... | 2003 | 12775171 |
| phylogenetic relationships between bacillus species and related genera inferred from comparison of 3' end 16s rdna and 5' end 16s-23s its nucleotide sequences. | the nucleotide sequences of the 3' end of the 16s rdna and the 16s-23s internal transcribed spacer (its) of 40 bacillaceae species were determined. these included 21 bacillus, 9 paenibacillus, 6 brevibacillus, 2 geobacillus, 1 marinibacillus and 1 virgibacillus species. comparative sequence analysis of a 220 bp region covering a highly conserved 150 bp sequence located at the 3' end of the 16s rrna coding region and a conserved 70 bp sequence located at the 5' end of the 16s-23s its of the 40 sp ... | 2003 | 12807189 |
| creating a text classifier to detect radiology reports describing mediastinal findings associated with inhalational anthrax and other disorders. | the aim of this study was to create a classifier for automatic detection of chest radiograph reports consistent with the mediastinal findings of inhalational anthrax. | 2003 | 12807805 |
| kombucha: a systematic review of the clinical evidence. | kombucha has become a popular complementary remedy. the aim of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the evidence related to its efficacy and safety. | 2003 | 12808367 |
| laboratory aspects of bioterrorism-related anthrax--from identification to molecular subtyping to microbial forensics. | during the bioterrorism-associated anthrax investigation of 2001 in the united states, 11 patients were diagnosed with inhalational anthrax and 11 more with the cutaneous forms of the disease. over 125,000 specimens were processed at laboratories of the laboratory response network including those at the centers for disease control and prevention. although the 2001 anthrax investigation initially began as a public health investigation, the forensic aspect quickly became a preeminent component of ... | 2003 | 12808729 |
| recollections of infectious disease research in guadalajara, 1948-50. | 2003 | 12813932 | |
| medical management of biological warfare and bioterrorism: place of the immunoprevention and the immunotherapy. | biological weapons are considered as mass destruction and terror weapons. terrorism including bioterrorism is the major threat in the future conflicts for our nations. the aim of bioterrorism is more related to the potential disorganisation of the society than to the lethal effects of the agents used. the dramatic consequences cannot be discarded, especially if contagious agents such viral are used. the preparation of specific defence measures is a major challenge for our countries. the knowledg ... | 2003 | 12818625 |
| salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium expressing a chromosomally integrated copy of the bacillus anthracis protective antigen gene protects mice against an anthrax spore challenge. | protective immunity against infection with bacillus anthracis is almost entirely based on a response to the protective antigen (pa), the binding moiety for the two other toxin components. we cloned the pa gene into an auxotrophic mutant of salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium as a fusion with the signal sequence of the hemolysin (hly) a gene of escherichia coli to allow the export of pa via the hly export system. to stabilize the export cassette, it was also integrated into the chromosome of ... | 2003 | 12819066 |
| detection of a luxs-signaling molecule in bacillus anthracis. | quorum-sensing regulation of density-dependent genes has been described for numerous bacterial species. the partially annotated genome sequence of bacillus anthracis contains an open reading frame (ba5047) predicted to encode an ortholog of luxs, required for synthesis of the quorum-sensing signaling molecule autoinducer-2 (ai-2). to determine whether b. anthracis produces ai-2, the vibrio harveyi luminescence bioassay was used. cell-free conditioned media from vaccine (sterne) strain 34f(2) ind ... | 2003 | 12819077 |
| macrophage-mediated germination of bacillus anthracis endospores requires the gerh operon. | the gerhabc operon of bacillus anthracis, encoding a gera-like family member of germinant sensors, was shown to be required for endospore germination in the presence of macrophages and in macrophage-conditioned media. the loss of the germination phenotype in macrophage cultures of b. anthracis gerh-null endospores was restored by complementation in trans with a wild-type copy of gerh expressed under the control of its own promoter. using endospores from both the parental strain b. anthracis ster ... | 2003 | 12819082 |
| in vitro selection and characterization of bacillus anthracis mutants with high-level resistance to ciprofloxacin. | mutants of attenuated bacillus anthracis with high-level ciprofloxacin resistance were isolated using a three-step in vitro selection. ciprofloxacin mics were 0.5 micro g/ml for first-step mutants, which had one of two gyra quinolone resistance-determining region (qrdr) mutations. ciprofloxacin mics were 8 and 16 microg/ml for second-step mutants, which had one of three parc qrdr mutations. ciprofloxacin mics for third-step mutants were 32 and 64 microg/ml. mutants for which mics were 64 microg/ ... | 2003 | 12821500 |
| anthrax-protective effects of yeast beta 1,3 glucans. | the recent events increasing the threat of bioterrorism have prompted a widespread search for defenses against this peril. | 2003 | 12827062 |
| changes in ciprofloxacin utilization as shown in a large pharmacy claims database: effects of proximity to criminal anthrax exposure in october 2001. | identify, during the period of criminal anthrax exposures in october 2001, changes in utilization of ciprofloxacin and geographic patterns of any identified variations. | 2003 | 12836787 |
| bioterrorism and catastrophe response: a quick-reference guide to resources. | dentists' responses to catastrophe have been redefined by bioterrorism. informed response requires accurate information about agents and diseases that have the potential to be used as weapons. | 2003 | 12839411 |
| inactivation of vegetative cells, but not spores, of bacillus anthracis, b. cereus, and b. subtilis on stainless steel surfaces coated with an antimicrobial silver- and zinc-containing zeolite formulation. | stainless steel surfaces coated with paints containing a silver- and zinc-containing zeolite (agion antimicrobial) were assayed in comparison to uncoated stainless steel for antimicrobial activity against vegetative cells and spores of three bacillus species, namely, b. anthracis sterne, b. cereus t, and b. subtilis 168. under the test conditions (25 degrees c and 80% relative humidity), the zeolite coating produced approximately 3 log(10) inactivation of vegetative cells within a 5- to 24-h per ... | 2003 | 12839825 |
| antimicrobial susceptibilities of 40 isolates of bacillus anthracis isolated in turkey. | forty clinical isolates of bacillus anthracis were studied. the mic(90) values of penicillin g, doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and levofloxacin were 0.016, 0.03, 0.06, 0.06 and 0.12 mg/l, respectively. susceptibilities suggest that the quinolones may also be considered as an alternative therapy for anthrax. | 2003 | 12842331 |
| identification of bacillus anthracis by rpob sequence analysis and multiplex pcr. | comparative sequence analysis was performed upon bacillus anthracis and its closest relatives, b. cereus and b. thuringiensis. portions of rpob dna from 10 strains of b. anthracis, 16 of b. cereus, 10 of b. thuringiensis, 1 of b. mycoides, and 1 of b. megaterium were amplified and sequenced. the determined rpob sequences (318 bp) of the 10 b. anthracis strains, including five korean isolates, were identical to those of ames, florida, kruger b, and western na strains. strains of the "b. cereus gr ... | 2003 | 12843020 |
| performance assessment of three commercial assays for direct detection of bacillus anthracis spores. | 2003 | 12843122 | |
| organization of a health-system pharmacy team to respond to episodes of terrorism. | the role of a pharmacy emergency response team (pert) trained to respond to episodes of terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (cbrn) agents is described. pharmacists must be prepared to support their health systems in responding to episodes of terrorism by detecting exposure to cbrn agents and mitigating, treating, and preventing casualties resulting from exposure to those agents. maimonides medical center, whose pharmacists responded to the medical and pharmaceutic ... | 2003 | 12845922 |
| painful lymphadenopathy and fulminant sepsis in a previously healthy 16-year-old girl. | 2003 | 12853549 | |
| a b cell-based sensor for rapid identification of pathogens. | we report the use of genetically engineered cells in a pathogen identification sensor. this sensor uses b lymphocytes that have been engineered to emit light within seconds of exposure to specific bacteria and viruses. we demonstrated rapid screening of relevant samples and identification of a variety of pathogens at very low levels. because of its speed, sensitivity, and specificity, this pathogen identification technology could prove useful for medical diagnostics, biowarfare defense, food- an ... | 2003 | 12855808 |
| poly(gamma-d-glutamic acid) protein conjugates induce igg antibodies in mice to the capsule of bacillus anthracis: a potential addition to the anthrax vaccine. | both the protective antigen (pa) and the poly(gamma-d-glutamic acid) capsule (gamma dpga) are essential for the virulence of bacillus anthracis. a critical level of vaccine-induced igg anti-pa confers immunity to anthrax, but there is no information about the protective action of igg anti-gamma dpga. because the number of spores presented by bioterrorists might be greater than encountered in nature, we sought to induce capsular antibodies to expand the immunity conferred by available anthrax vac ... | 2003 | 12857944 |
| rickettsialpox in new york city: a persistent urban zoonosis. | rickettsialpox, a spotted fever rickettsiosis, was first identified in new york city (nyc) in 1946. during the next five years, approximately 540 additional cases were identified in nyc. however, during the subsequent five decades, rickettsialpox received relatively little attention from clinicians and public health professionals, and reporting of the disease diminished markedly. during february 2001 through august 2002, 34 cases of rickettsialpox in nyc were confirmed at cdc from cutaneous biop ... | 2003 | 12860597 |
| decreased glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta levels and related physiological changes in bacillus anthracis lethal toxin-treated macrophages. | the lethal factor (lf) component of bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (letx) cleaves mitogen activated protein kinase kinases (mapkks) in a variety of different cell types, yet only macrophages are rapidly killed by this toxin. the reason for this selective killing is unclear, but suggests other factors may also be involved in letx intoxication. in the current study, dna membrane arrays were used to identify broad changes in macrophage physiology after treatment with letx. expression of genes regu ... | 2003 | 12864812 |
| susceptibility of bacillus anthracis to eleven antimicrobial agents including novel fluoroquinolones and a ketolide. | to determine the susceptibility of southern african strains of bacillus anthracis to new, investigational agents as well as conventional antibiotics. | 2003 | 12865385 |
| the life of robert koch. | 2003 | 12867708 | |
| aids research cut to pay for anthrax vaccine. | 2003 | 12867943 | |
| impairment of dendritic cells and adaptive immunity by anthrax lethal toxin. | anthrax poses a clear and present danger as an agent of biological terrorism. infection with bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, if untreated can result in rampant bacteraemia, multisystem dysfunction and death. anthrax lethal toxin (lt) is a critical virulence factor of b. anthracis, which occurs as a complex of protective antigen and lethal factor. here we demonstrate that lt severely impairs the function of dendritic cells--which are pivotal to the establishment of immunity ag ... | 2003 | 12867985 |
| bacillus species proteins involved in spore formation and degradation: from identification in the genome, to sequence analysis, and determination of function and structure. | the members of bacillus species are gram-positive, ubiquitous spore-forming bacilli. several genomic sequences have been made available during recent years, including bacillus subtilis, a model organism among this genus, bacillus anthracis, and their analyses provided a wealth of information about spore-forming bacteria. some members of this species can cause serious diseases in livestock and humans. an important pathogen in this group of organisms is b. anthracis, which is the causative agent o ... | 2003 | 12870714 |
| the hidden lifestyles of bacillus cereus and relatives. | bacillus cereus sensu lato, the species group comprising bacillus anthracis, bacillus thuringiensis and b. cereus (sensu stricto), has previously been scrutinized regarding interspecies genetic correlation and pathogenic characteristics. so far, little attention has been paid to analysing the biological and ecological properties of the three species in their natural environments. in this review, we describe the b. cereus sensu lato living in a world on its own; all b. cereus sensu lato can grow ... | 2003 | 12871230 |
| genome-based bioinformatic selection of chromosomal bacillus anthracis putative vaccine candidates coupled with proteomic identification of surface-associated antigens. | bacillus anthracis (ames strain) chromosome-derived open reading frames (orfs), predicted to code for surface exposed or virulence related proteins, were selected as b. anthracis-specific vaccine candidates by a multistep computational screen of the entire draft chromosome sequence (february 2001 version, 460 contigs, the institute for genomic research, rockville, md.). the selection procedure combined preliminary annotation (sequence similarity searches and domain assignments), prediction of ce ... | 2003 | 12874336 |
| pathology and pathogenesis of bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax. | during october and november 2001, public health authorities investigated 11 patients with inhalational anthrax related to a bioterrorism attack in the united states. formalin-fixed samples from 8 patients were available for pathological and immunohistochemical (ihc) study using monoclonal antibodies against the bacillus anthracis cell wall and capsule. prominent serosanguinous pleural effusions and hemorrhagic mediastinitis were found in 5 patients who died. pulmonary infiltrates seen on chest r ... | 2003 | 12875989 |
| patient and family physician preferences for care and communication in the eventuality of anthrax terrorism. | the threat of bioterrorism consequent to the september 11, 2001 attack in the usa generated suggestions for improved medical response mainly through hospital preparedness. | 2003 | 12876118 |
| efficacy and durability of bacillus anthracis bacteriophages used against spores. | antibiotics and vaccines help fight anthrax disease, but there are no anthrax spore control methods suitable for use in environments where humans are present. the work reported in this article indicates that bacteriophages may help reduce risk from anthrax spores. dose-response studies demonstrated that higher concentrations of mixed bacillus anthracis bacteriophages (3.5 x 10(8) plaque-forming units per milliliter) inhibited subsequent growth of bacteria when sprayed on b. anthracis spores. pha ... | 2003 | 12879575 |
| anthrax toxin: structures, functions and tumour targeting. | anthrax toxin, the major virulence factor of bacillus anthracis, consists of three polypeptides: protective antigen (prag), lethal factor (lf) and oedema factor (ef). to intoxicate mammalian cells, prag binds to its cellular receptors and is subsequently activated via proteolysis, yielding a carboxyl-terminal fragment which coordinately assembles to form heptamers that bind and translocate lf and ef into the cytosol to exert their cytotoxic effects. substantial progress has been made in recent y ... | 2003 | 12880383 |
| production and proteolytic assay of lethal factor from bacillus anthracis. | bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. the major virulence factors are a poly-d-glutamic acid capsule and three-protein component exotoxin, protective antigen (pa, 83 kda), lethal factor (lf, 90 kda), and edema factor (ef, 89 kda), respectively. these three proteins individually have no known toxic activities, but in combination with pa form two toxins (lethal toxin or edema toxin), causing different pathogenic responses in animals and cultured cells. in this study, we constructed ... | 2003 | 12880779 |
| an ounce of prevention is a ton of work: mass antibiotic prophylaxis for anthrax, new york city, 2001. | protocols for mass antibiotic prophylaxis against anthrax were under development in new york city beginning in early 1999. this groundwork allowed the city's department of health to rapidly respond in 2001 to six situations in which cases were identified or anthrax spores were found. the key aspects of planning and lessons learned from each of these mass prophylaxis operations are reviewed. antibiotic distribution was facilitated by limiting medical histories to issues relevant to prescribing pr ... | 2003 | 12780998 |
| inactivation of bacillus anthracis spores. | after the intentional release of bacillus anthracis through the u.s. postal service in the fall of 2001, many environments were contaminated with b. anthracis spores, and frequent inquiries were made regarding the science of destroying these spores. we conducted a survey of the literature that had potential application to the inactivation of b. anthracis spores. this article provides a tabular summary of the results. | 2003 | 12780999 |
| bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax in an elderly woman, connecticut, 2001. | on november 20, 2001, inhalational anthrax was confirmed in an elderly woman from rural connecticut. to determine her exposure source, we conducted an extensive epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation. molecular subtyping showed that her isolate was indistinguishable from isolates associated with intentionally contaminated letters. no samples from her home or community yielded bacillus anthracis, and she received no first-class letters from facilities known to have processed i ... | 2003 | 12781007 |
| isolated case of bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax, new york city, 2001. | on october 31, 2001, in new york city, a 61-year-old female hospital employee who had acquired inhalational anthrax died after a 6-day illness. to determine sources of exposure and identify additional persons at risk, the new york city department of health, centers for disease control and prevention, and law enforcement authorities conducted an extensive investigation, which included interviewing contacts, examining personal effects, summarizing patient's use of mass transit, conducting active c ... | 2003 | 12781008 |
| carbohydrates and glycoproteins of bacillus anthracis and related bacilli: targets for biodetection. | the spore is the form released in a bioterrorism attack. there is a real need for definition of new targets for bacillus anthracis that might be incorporated into emerging biodetection technologies. particularly of interest are macromolecules found in b. anthracis that are (1) spore-specific, (2) readily accessible on the spore surface and (3) distinct from those present in related organisms. one of the few biochemical methods to identify the spores of b. anthracis is based on the presence of rh ... | 2003 | 12782370 |
| three bacillus anthracis bacteriophages from topsoil. | three bacillus anthracis bacteriophages from iowa topsoil are characterized as to latent period, morphology, structural proteins, dna size, and restriction endonuclease digestion. electron micrographs indicate that the three isolates include two members of the myoviridae and one smaller phage belonging to the podoviridae. phages nk and db resemble myoviridae phage sp50 in morphology, but host range studies, protein, and dna analysis indicate that both differ from sp50. phage mh is very similar t ... | 2003 | 12783194 |
| [anthrax]. | anthrax is a severe infectious disease by bacillus anthracis. it can cause massacres among large herbivores, but means also a threat to humans. the latter develop mainly cutaneous anthrax, which they mostly survive. inhalation can lead to more severe infections which, without medical intervention, are virtually always lethal. at the moment the disease draws much attention since it is thought to be a potential weapon in the hands of bioterrorists. | 2003 | 12784517 |
| a handheld real time thermal cycler for bacterial pathogen detection. | the handheld advanced nucleic acid analyzer (hanaa) is a portable real time thermal cycler unit that weighs under 1 kg and uses silicon and platinum-based thermalcycler units to conduct rapid heating and cooling of plastic reaction tubes. two light emitting diodes (led) provide greater than 1 mw of electrical power at wavelengths of 490 nm (blue) and 525 nm (green), allowing detection of the dyes fam and joe/tamra. results are displayed in real time as bar graphs, and up to three, 4-sample assay ... | 2003 | 12788554 |
| fluorescent heteroduplex assay for monitoring bacillus anthracis and close relatives in environmental samples. | a fluorescent heteroduplex method was developed to assess the presence of 16s rrna gene (rdna) sequences from bacillus anthracis and close relatives in pcr-amplified 16s rdna sequence mixtures from environmental samples. the method uses a single-stranded, fluorescent dna probe, 464 nucleotides in length, derived from a b. anthracis 16s rrna gene. the probe contains a unique, engineered deletion such that all probe-target duplexes are heteroduplexes with an unpaired g at position 343 (deltag343). ... | 2003 | 12788732 |
| a docking site in mkk4 mediates high affinity binding to jnk mapks and competes with similar docking sites in jnk substrates. | specific docking interactions between mapks and their activating mapk kinases (mkks or meks) are crucial for efficient and accurate signal transmission. here, we report the identification of a mapk-docking site, or "d-site," in the n terminus of human mkk4/jnkk1. this docking site conforms to the consensus sequence for known d-sites in other mkks and contains the first of the two cleavage sites for anthrax lethal factor protease that have been found in the n terminus of mkk4. this docking site w ... | 2003 | 12788955 |
| biodefence takes its toll. | 2003 | 12789296 | |
| biological warfare from a dermatologic perspective. | biological warfare agents have been used in this century by both organized armed forces and terrorist organizations. beset with many problems that limit their tactical value on the battlefield, such "weapons of mass destruction" have tremendous terror appeal. unusual presentations or clustering of diseases associated with biowarfare might alert the clinician that an attack has occurred. the clinical presentations, current recommended treatments, and preventive measures of agents such as anthrax, ... | 2003 | 12791207 |
| clinical evaluation of the emergency medical services (ems) ambulance dispatch-based syndromic surveillance system, new york city. | since 1998, the new york city department of health has used new york city emergency medical services (ems) ambulance dispatch data to monitor for a communitywide rise in influenzalike illness (ili) as an early detection system for bioterrorism. a clinical validation study was conducted during peak influenza season at six new york city emergency departments (eds) to compare patients with ili brought in by ambulance with other patients to examine potential biases associated with ambulance dispatch ... | 2003 | 12791779 |
| syndromic surveillance using automated collection of computerized discharge diagnoses. | the syndromic surveillance information collection (ssic) system aims to facilitate early detection of bioterrorism attacks (with such agents as anthrax, brucellosis, plague, q fever, tularemia, smallpox, viral encephalitides, hemorrhagic fever, botulism toxins, staphylococcal enterotoxin b, etc.) and early detection of naturally occurring disease outbreaks, including large foodborne disease outbreaks, emerging infections, and pandemic influenza. this is accomplished using automated data collecti ... | 2003 | 12791784 |
| horizontal transfer of drug-resistant aminoacyl-transfer-rna synthetases of anthrax and gram-positive pathogens. | the screening of new antibiotics against several bacterial strains often reveals unexpected occurrences of natural drug resistance. two examples of this involve specific inhibitors of staphylococcus aureus isoleucyl-transfer-rna synthetase 1 (ilers1) and, more recently, streptococcus pneumoniae methionyl-trna synthetase 1 (metrs1). in both cases, resistance is due to the presence of a second gene that encodes another synthetase (ilers2 or metrs2). here, we show that both s. pneumoniae metrs2 and ... | 2003 | 12792655 |
| the crystal structure of the proprotein processing proteinase furin explains its stringent specificity. | in eukaryotes, many essential secreted proteins and peptide hormones are excised from larger precursors by members of a class of calcium-dependent endoproteinases, the prohormone-proprotein convertases (pcs). furin, the best-characterized member of the mammalian pc family, has essential functions in embryogenesis and homeostasis but is also implicated in various pathologies such as tumor metastasis, neurodegeneration and various bacterial and viral diseases caused by such pathogens as anthrax an ... | 2003 | 12794637 |
| narrating the unexceptional: the art of medical inquiry in victorian england and the present. | 2003 | 12795084 | |
| bacillus anthracis. | 2003 | 12797345 | |
| evaluation of the compatibility of a second generation recombinant anthrax vaccine with aluminum-containing adjuvants. | recombinant protective antigen (rpa) is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in a second generation anthrax vaccine undergoing pre-clinical evaluation. this rpa vaccine differs from the currently licensed vaccine, anthrax vaccine adsorbed (ava), in that the sole component is a recombinant form of protective antigen (pa). unlike ava the rpa vaccine contains no lethal factor (lf) or edema factor (ef), components of the two bipartite toxins, nor many other bacillus anthracis-related contaminating p ... | 2003 | 12798645 |
| the bacillus cereus bcet enterotoxin sequence reappraised. | bacillus cereus is a known opportunistic human pathogen belonging to the b. cereus group. establishment of the pathogenesis most likely involves several gene products. one of these gene products, a single gene component named bcet, has been cloned and described from b. cereus b-4ac [agata et al., microbiology 141 (1995) 983-988]. however, our sequences of the bcet region from 16 b. cereus group strains showed inconsistency with the published bcet sequence. only part of the bcet sequence had homo ... | 2003 | 12798995 |
| the killer strain. | 2003 | 12800313 | |
| detection and differentiation of biological species using microcalorimetric spectroscopy. | we report on the application of infrared (ir) microcalorimetric spectroscopy ( micro -calspec) to the identification and detection of trace amounts of biological species. our approach combines principles of photothermal ir spectroscopy with ultrasensitive microcantilever (mc) thermal detectors. we have obtained photothermal ir spectra for dna and rna bases and for bacillus cereus (an anthrax simulant) in the wavelength range of 2.5-14.5 micro m (4000-690 cm(-1)). the measurements are accomplishe ... | 2003 | 12801702 |
| spinach makes a safer anthrax vaccine. | 2003 | 12801787 | |
| destruction of bacillus anthracis strain sterne 34f2 spores in postal envelopes by exposure to electron beam irradiation. | to determine the irradiation dose necessary to reduce the populations of bacillus anthracis spores in a dry medium in postal envelopes. | 2003 | 12803549 |
| the host cell chaperone hsp90 is essential for translocation of the binary clostridium botulinum c2 toxin into the cytosol. | clostridium botulinum c2 toxin is the prototype of the binary actin-adp-ribosylating toxins and consists of the binding component c2ii and the enzyme component c2i. the activated binding component c2iia forms heptamers, which bind to carbohydrates on the cell surface and interact with the enzyme component c2i. this toxin complex is taken up by receptor-mediated endocytosis. in acidic endosomes, heptameric c2iia forms pores and mediates the translocation of c2i into the cytosol. we report that th ... | 2003 | 12805360 |