| francisella tularensis does not manifest virulence in viable but non-culturable state. | francisella tularensis is a small gram-negative bacterium that causes tularemia in animals and man. the disease can be transmitted by handling of infected animals, by contaminated dust, by insect vectors, or by drinking contaminated water. in the present study cells of f. tularensis were subjected to extended storage in cold water devoid of carbon sources. total cell counts remained constant throughout a 70-day period and beyond, while plate counts decreased to an undetectable level after 70 day ... | 2000 | 10719202 |
| purified lipopolysaccharide from francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (lvs) induces protective immunity against lvs infection that requires b cells and gamma interferon. | previous results have demonstrated that nonspecific protective immunity against lethal francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (lvs) or listeria monocytogenes infection can be stimulated either by sublethal infection with bacteria or by treatment with bacterial dna given 3 days before lethal challenge. here we characterize the ability of purified lipopolysaccharide (lps) from f. tularensis lvs to stimulate similar early protective immunity. treatment of mice with surprisingly small amounts of ... | 2000 | 10722593 |
| infection-activated t lymphocytes resist nitric oxide-mediated immunosuppression in the course of francisella tularensis 15l experimental infection. | study of the inhibition of splenocyte proliferation stimulated by concanavalin a (con a), induced by francisella tularensis 15l infection, showed that immunosuppression is mediated by nitric oxide (no). a certain fraction of cells, however, resist the antiproliferative activities of no and these were characterized as thy-1.2 positive infection-activated t lymphocytes. the importance of this phenomenon for the development of specific anti-infectious immunity was studied further in naturally resis ... | 1998 | 10730862 |
| report on five cases of tularaemic pneumonia in a tularaemia outbreak in spain. | a report is given on five cases of atypical tularaemic pneumonia selected from among 140 cases of tularaemic infection in a previously reported outbreak occurring in 1997. prior to this outbreak no human cases of tularaemia had been reported in spain. all cases were diagnosed serologically. all five patients reported on here had a mild form of the disease, which was treated successfully with streptomycin in four cases and ciprofloxacin in one case. tularaemic pneumonia should be considered in th ... | 2000 | 10795596 |
| case records of the massachusetts general hospital. weekly clinicopathological exercises. case 14-2000. a 60-year-old farm worker with bilateral pneumonia. | | 2000 | 10805829 |
| [noncultivatable forms of francisella tularensis]. | conditions for the appearance of f. tularensis uncultivated forms and for their reversion into the initial state have been studied. as revealed in this study, the combined influence of stress factors (starvation and low temperature) may result in the transition of f. tularensis into the uncultivated state in which it persists in the environment during the period between epidemics. the reversion of f. tularensis uncultivated forms into the initial state has been carried out with the use of sensit ... | 2000 | 10808564 |
| detection of francisella tularensis in infected mammals and vectors using a probe-based polymerase chain reaction. | we investigated the use of a taqman 5' nuclease assay (5na) directed against the francisella tularensis outer membrane protein (fop) gene and a polymerase chain reaction-enzyme immunoassay (pcr-eia) directed against the tul 4 gene for detection of this organism in experimentally infected mice and in field-collected tick vectors. we also evaluated the use of specially formulated filter paper (fta) for rapid sample preparation. the 5na had a detection limit of 1 pg of genomic dna (<100 colony-form ... | 2000 | 10813490 |
| ciprofloxacin for treatment of tularemia in children. | children with tularemia are, irrespective of severity of disease, usually subjected to parenteral treatment with aminoglycosides. based on available susceptibility testing, quinolones might be effective oral alternatives of parenteral therapy. these drugs cause arthropathy in immature animals, but this risk is currently regarded to be low in humans. | 2000 | 10819342 |
| isolation in endothelial cell cultures of chlamydia trachomatis lgv (serovar l2) from a lymph node of a patient with suspected cat scratch disease. | an inguinal lymph node, removed from a 21-year-old romanian man suspected of having cat scratch disease, was sent to our laboratory for bartonella culture. lymph node specimens were inoculated on blood-enriched agar and in an endothelial cell culture system using the centrifugation shell vial technique. bacteria were grown in cell monolayers and detected as positive with an anti-bartonella henselae rabbit serum. however, such bacteria were identified as chlamydia trachomatis biovar lgv serovar l ... | 2000 | 10834954 |
| [the outlook for the development of live vaccines for the prevention of melioidosis]. | the effectiveness of immunization with burkholderia pseudomallei attenuated strains (pur and ts), heterologous vaccines and the recombinant culture of francisella tularensis rm2 carrying a plasmid with fragments of b. pseudomallei chromosome was studied in four species of experimental animals, essentially differing in their sensitivity to melioidosis. the most immunogenic b. pseudomallei mutants, introduced subcutaneously, created a statistically significant level of protection in animals, moder ... | 1999 | 10851991 |
| [the immunomodulating and antitoxic properties of preparations of lipopolysaccharides from representatives of the genus francisella]. | the study of the biological properties of lipopolysaccharides (lps) of bacteria of the genus francisella (f. tularensis, f. novicida, f. novicida-like, f. philomiragia) revealed that the preparation of francisella lps possessed immunomodulating and antitoxic properties in the absence of toxicity. at the same time the structure of lps (s or r) was found to produce an essential effect of the immunobiological activity of this molecule. thus, the s-forms of lps proved to be more effective as immunom ... | 1999 | 10852051 |
| [the ultrastructural characteristics of francisella tularensis interaction with tetrahymena pyriformis]. | the electron-microscopic study of the interaction of f. tularensis virulent and attenuated strains with infusoria of the species t. pyriformis was dynamically studied. in this study the structural changes of f. tularensis and t. pyriformis cells, as well as their capacity for survival, were revealed. the data on their ultrastructure correlated with the dynamics of the number of both f. tularensis and t. pyriformis: during the whole term of observation the tendency to a slow decrease in the numbe ... | 2000 | 10876882 |
| field detection of francisella tularensis. | a field investigation was undertaken following an outbreak of water-borne tularemia in northern norway. francisella tularensis bacterial cellular components were analysed by rapid immunochromatography (ri)-testing, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and polymerase chain reaction (pcr). water from 1 reservoir, fed from a rapid stream, tested negative. from another reservoir, 2 of a chain of 3 wells tested negative. the third well, at the end of the chain, contained lemming (lemmus lemmus) ... | 2000 | 10879600 |
| [the chemotherapeutic efficacy of ciprofloxacin and lomefloxacin in the inhalation method of infecting white mice with tularemia]. | peculiarities of the protective effect of ciprofloxacin and lomefloxacin were studied and the optimal regimens of their use were determined in multifactor experiments on albino mice infected with finally dispersed aerosol of the virulent strain of the european subspecies of francisella tularensis. as for protective effect, the fluoroquinolones provided high percentage of the animal survival. the optimal course of the treatment was at least 7 days. the interval of 0 to 48 hours between the infect ... | 2000 | 10904804 |
| [immunostimulatory activity of the vaccine used in the treatment of recurrent urinary infections. ii]. | the authors describe on the immunostimulatory properties of the vaccine urvakol aimed for the treatment of recurrent urinary infections. detection of immunostimulatory activity of the preparation and its effects on the humoral and cellular immunity were performed after oral administration of the preparation. important was the evidence of nonspecific immunity of mice against intracellular pathogen francisella tularensis induced with urvakol strain 15l. (tab. 4, fig. 1, ref. 8.) | 1999 | 10914146 |
| in vitro antibiotic susceptibility of francisella tularensis isolated from humans and animals. | the in vitro susceptibility of 38 strains of francisella tularensis (biovar f. tularensis palaearctica) was determined using etests on cysteine heart agar plates with 2% haemoglobin. all strains were susceptible to the antibiotics traditionally used to treat tularaemia, such as streptomycin (mic(90) 4.0 mg/l), tetracycline (mic(90) 0.38 mg/l) and chloramphenicol (mic(90) 0.38 mg/l), and to aminoglycosides, such as tobramycin (mic(90) 1.5 mg/l) and gentamicin (mic(90) 1.0 mg/l). the quinolones ex ... | 2000 | 10933655 |
| immunostimulatory dna sequences help to eradicate intracellular pathogens. | | 2000 | 10944809 |
| activation of the innate immune system by cpg oligodeoxynucleotides: immunoprotective activity and safety. | | 2000 | 10944812 |
| multi-analyte interrogation using the fiber optic biosensor. | the capabilities of the portable, automated fiber optic biosensor, raptor, have recently been evaluated. developed to perform rapid fluoroimmunoassays in the field, the raptor was designed to test samples for up to four different target analytes simultaneously. assay time could be varied from a 3-min rapid screen to a standard 10-min test. a trial of 203 blind samples tested for staphylococcal enterotoxin b, ricin, francisella tularensis, and bacillus globigii has been conducted. sensitivities o ... | 2000 | 10945451 |
| the development of immunoassays to four biological threat agents in a bidiffractive grating biosensor. | a critical need exists for a field deployable biosensor to detect environmental infectious agents in collected air samples rapidly, with sensitivity and specificity approaching that of standard laboratory procedures. the ideal sensor would analyze unknown samples in minutes, have programmable operation for unattended sample analysis, and be capable of multiple agent analysis for a number of agents. the goal of this project was to further the development of the bidiffractive grating biosensor (bd ... | 2000 | 10945456 |
| swiss army survey in switzerland to determine the prevalence of francisella tularensis, members of the ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup, borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and tick-borne encephalitis virus in ticks. | a total of 6071 ixodes ricinus ticks were collected on swiss army training grounds in five regions of switzerland. the aim of the survey was to assess the prevalence of ticks infected with the human pathogens francisella tularensis, members of the ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup, borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and the european tick-borne encephalitis virus. taqman pcr (pe biosystems, usa) and taqman rt-pcr (pe biosystems) analyses were performed on dna and rna extracted from pools of ten ti ... | 2000 | 10947217 |
| [species- and genus-specific antigenic epitopes of francisella tularensis lipopolysaccharides]. | lipopolysaccharide (lps) antigenic epitopes of natural virulent and isogenic avirulent francisella tularensis strains and other species of the francisella genus (f. novicida, f. novicida-like, and f. philomiragia) were studied by dot and immunoblotting. polyclonal rabbit and human sera to virulent f. tularensis strains and monoclonal antibodies to f. tularensis lps o-side chain were used for detecting species- and genus-specific lps epitopes. typical virulent f. tularensis strains produce two ty ... | 2000 | 10975073 |
| treatment of tularemia with ciprofloxacin. | | 2000 | 10987739 |
| sequencing of the francisella tularensis strain schu 4 genome reveals the shikimate and purine metabolic pathways, targets for the construction of a rationally attenuated auxotrophic vaccine. | francisella tularensis is the etiological agent of tularemia, a serious disease in several northern hemisphere countries. the organism has fastidious growth requirements and is very poorly understood at the genetic and molecular levels. given the lack of data on this organism, we undertook the sample sequencing of its genome. a random library of dna fragments from a highly virulent strain (schu 4) of f. tularensis was constructed and the nucleotide sequences of 13,904 cloned fragments were deter ... | 2000 | 11011763 |
| evaluation of pcr-based methods for discrimination of francisella species and subspecies and development of a specific pcr that distinguishes the two major subspecies of francisella tularensis. | previous studies have demonstrated that the four subspecies of the human pathogen francisella tularensis, despite showing marked variations in their virulence for mammals and originating from different regions in the northern hemisphere, display a very close phylogenetic relationship. this property has hampered the development of generally applicable typing methods. to overcome this problem, we evaluated the use of pcr for discrimination of the subspecies using various forms of long arbitrary pr ... | 2000 | 11060087 |
| bactericidal activities of antibiotics against intracellular francisella tularensis. | mics of many antibiotics for francisella tularensis are low in axenic medium, whereas only aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones are useful in treating tularemic patients. in an in vitro cell system, only these antibiotics, rifampin, and telithromycin were bactericidal against intracellular f. tularensis. these results correlate better with clinical data than mic data do. | 2000 | 11083651 |
| serologic survey for selected infectious disease agents in swift and kit foxes from the western united states. | a serologic survey of swift fox (vulpes velox) and kit fox (v. macrotis) from the western usa was conducted for 12 infectious diseases. samples from swift fox were collected between 1987 and 1992 from colorado (n = 44), kansas (n = 10), and wyoming (n = 9). samples from kit fox were collected in california (n = 86), new mexico (n = 18), utah (n = 9), and arizona (n = 6). overall antibody prevalence rates were 33 of 110 (30%) for canine parvovirus (cpv), 9 of 72 (13%) for canine distemper virus ( ... | 2000 | 11085448 |
| chronic meningitis. | treatment of chronic meningitis depends on the underlying cause. once a specific cause has been established, appropriate targeted therapy is initiated. when the cause is unknown, a decision must be made whether to employ empiric therapy while the diagnostic evaluation is ongoing. this decision is based on three factors: 1) the clinical status of the patient; 2) the most likely cause based on demographic, historical, examination, and initial laboratory data; and 3) the risk-to-benefit ratio of th ... | 2000 | 11096763 |
| francisella-like endosymbionts of ticks. | | 2000 | 11112376 |
| susceptibility to secondary francisella tularensis live vaccine strain infection in b-cell-deficient mice is associated with neutrophilia but not with defects in specific t-cell-mediated immunity. | previous studies have demonstrated a role for b cells, not associated with antibody production, in protection against lethal secondary infection of mice with francisella tularensis live vaccine strain (lvs). however, the mechanism by which b cells contribute to this protection is not known. to study the specific role of b cells during secondary lvs infection, we developed an in vitro culture system that mimics many of the same characteristics of in vivo infection. using this culture system, we s ... | 2001 | 11119506 |
| identification of the acid phosphatase (acpa) gene homologues in pathogenic and non-pathogenic burkholderia spp. facilitates tnphoa mutagenesis. | burkholderia pseudomallei and burkholderia mallei are pathogens responsible for disease in both humans and animals. burkholderia thailandensis, while phylogenetically similar, is considered avirulent in comparison. these three species exhibit phosphatase activity when grown on media containing chromogenic substrates such as 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate (xp). tn5-ot182 mutagenesis has been utilized to isolate mutants of b. pseudomallei and b. thailandensis unable to hydrolyse xp. sequence ... | 2001 | 11160805 |
| [the use if francisella tularensis lipopolysaccharide in the dot solid phase enzyme immunoassay]. | to determine antitularemia antibodies in the sera of humans and animale, the possibility of using dot immunoassay with the use of f. tularensis lipopolysaccharide (lps) as antigen-containing preparation was ascertained. experiments demonstrated that this method made it possible to determine specific antitularemia antibodies in the sera of sick and immunized humans and animals. investigetions carried out with the use of heterologous antisera to f. novicida, f. novicida-like and f. philomiragia, a ... | 2000 | 11220974 |
| parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome attributable to an encounter with a wild rabbit. | to describe the clinical and histopathologic findings in a patient with parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome attributable to francisella tularensis obtained from an encounter with a wild baby rabbit. | 2001 | 11228320 |
| [analysis of the incidence of tularemia in the breclav district 1994-1999]. | southern moravia is one of the areas where there are long-term natural foci of tularaemia. in 1994 in the breclav district an exacerbation of the disease was recorded in hares. during autumn hunts a positive reaction was recorded in 5.75% of examined hares. an elevated seropositivity persisted also in subsequent years and at the same time a higher human morbidity in the mentioned region. the objective of the investigation was to assess the causes and circumstances which led to the exacerbation o ... | 2001 | 11233673 |
| long-lasting recall response of cd4+ and cd8+ alphabeta t cells, but not gammadelta t cells, to heat shock proteins of francisella tularensis. | decades after recovery from tularemia, circulating alphabeta t cells are known to still recognize a variety of membrane proteins of francisella tularensis. we studied the t cell response to 3 cytoplasmic heat shock proteins of the organism: dnak, chaperone-60 (cpn-60) and cpn-10. determination of subpopulations of responding t cells was of special interest as it has been suggested that homologs of these conserved proteins may be recognized by human gammadelta t cells. compared with reference sub ... | 2001 | 11233852 |
| erythema nodosum revealing oculoglandular tularemia. | | 2001 | 11244242 |
| a serological survey of rural dogs and cats on the southwestern canadian prairie for zoonotic pathogens. | a survey for antibodies against agents of plague, tularemia, and rocky mountain spotted fever (rmsf), and against sin nombre hantavirus (snv), bartonella henselae and b. clarridgeiae was conducted in the summer of 1995 using serum from rural dogs and cats living in the vicinity of four public parks in southeastern alberta and southwestern saskatchewan. antibodies to all pathogens were detected in all survey areas. overall prevalence rates were 0.075 for yersinia pestis, 0.089 for francisella tul ... | 2001 | 11257996 |
| treatment of tularemia with levofloxacin. | | 2001 | 11318818 |
| [case reports of tularemia]. | | 2001 | 11332241 |
| [differential diagnosis of tularemia]. | | 2001 | 11332245 |
| tularemia as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. | the working group on civilian biodefense has developed consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals if tularemia is used as a biological weapon against a civilian population. | 2001 | 11386933 |
| [lung involvement in tularemia]. | we present three cases of pneumonia by francisella tularensis recently diagnosed. we also review this disease with the literature. all the studied patients were adults; two of them had epidemiological antecedents because of being in contact with hares. they present a clinical-radiological symptoms compatible with the pneumonic case described in the literature. the diagnosis was realized through serology in two cases and hemocultive in the other one. all patients had a positive answer to the anti ... | 2001 | 11387843 |
| francisella tularensis induces cytopathogenicity and apoptosis in murine macrophages via a mechanism that requires intracellular bacterial multiplication. | the murine macrophage-like cell line j774.a1 ingests and allows intracellular growth of francisella tularensis. we demonstrate that, after 24 h of infection, a pronounced cytopathogenicity resulted and the j774 cells were undergoing apoptosis. despite this host cell apoptosis, no decrease in bacterial numbers was observed. when internalization of bacteria was prevented or intracellularly located f. tularensis bacteria were eradicated within 12 h, the progression of host cell cytopathogenicity an ... | 2001 | 11402018 |
| rapid laboratory diagnosis of ulceroglandular tularemia with polymerase chain reaction. | tularemia is a zoonotic disease which, in scandinavia, is usually acquired through a mosquito bite. as the infecting organism, francisella tularensis, is highly virulent the culturing of f. tularensis has generally been avoided. pcr offers a safe way to rapidly confirm diagnosis of tularemia. the case of a 9-y-old boy with ulceroglandular tularemia is presented. the diagnosis was made rapidly with dna amplification from a pus specimen. the efficacy of ciprofloxacin treatment of tularemia in chil ... | 2001 | 11440227 |
| [comparative analysis of the immune response of a rabbit to antigens to live and killed francisella species bacteria]. | serum antibodies were analyzed in rabbits immunized with live and formalin-killed francisella (f. tularensis, f. novicida, f. novicida-like, and f. philomiragia). passive hemagglutination test with erythrocytes sensitized by these bacteria' lps showed much higher titers of species-specific antibodies in all sera to live microorganisms than sera to killed bacteria. the results of immunoblotting with purified lps and bacterial lysates indicate that sera to live bacteria contained mainly immunoglob ... | 2001 | 11449797 |
| tularemia epidemic in northwestern spain: clinical description and therapeutic response. | this study describes the clinical characteristics of tularemia in spain's first epidemic outbreak and the therapeutic response and compares the efficacy of 3 antibiotics (streptomycin, ciprofloxacin, and doxycycline). for 142 cases of tularemia, the therapeutic failure rate was 22.5%; ciprofloxacin was the antibiotic with the lowest percentage of therapeutic failures and with the fewest side effects. | 2001 | 11462198 |
| importance of surveillance of tularemia natural foci in the known endemic area of central europe, 1991-1997. | marked activation of natural foci of tularemia in the known endemic area of central europe, comprising the borderland of slovakia, austria and the czech republic, led to an epidemic outbreak in western slovakia and an increase in the number of human tularemia cases in the adjoining regions of northeastern austria and southern moravia from 1995 to 1997. the aim of this paper was to present the results of a longitudinal study on the prevalence of infection with francisella tularensis in small mamm ... | 2001 | 11467089 |
| role of antibody to lipopolysaccharide in protection against low- and high-virulence strains of francisella tularensis. | mice immunised with lipopolysaccharide (lps) from francisella tularensis were protected against challenge with the live vaccine strain (lvs). however, when similarly immunised mice were challenged using the fully virulent f. tularensis strain schu4, only an increase in the time to death was observed. passive transfer of serum from lps-immunised mice to naive mice afforded protection against f. tularensis lvs. lps-immunised mice depleted of either cd4+ or cd8+ t-cells survived a f. tularensis lvs ... | 2001 | 11483272 |
| waterborne outbreak of tularemia associated with crayfish fishing. | in 1997, an outbreak of human tularemia associated with hare-hunting in central spain affected 585 patients. we describe the identification of francisella tularensis biovar palaearctica in a second outbreak of ulceroglandular tularemia associated with crayfish (procambarus clarkii) fishing in a contaminated freshwater stream distant from the hare-associated outbreak. the second outbreak occurred 1 year after the first. | 2001 | 11485678 |
| extensive allelic variation among francisella tularensis strains in a short-sequence tandem repeat region. | members of the genus francisella and the species f. tularensis appear to be genetically very similar despite pronounced differences in virulence and geographic localization, and currently used typing methods do not allow discrimination of individual strains. here we show that a number of short-sequence tandem repeat (sstr) loci are present in f. tularensis genomes and that two of these loci, sstr9 and sstr16, are together highly discriminatory. labeled pcr amplification products from the loci we ... | 2001 | 11526142 |
| francisella tularensis strain typing using multiple-locus, variable-number tandem repeat analysis. | francisella tularensis, the etiological agent of tularemia, is found throughout the northern hemisphere. after analyzing the f. tularensis genomic sequence for potential variable-number tandem repeats (vntrs), we developed a multilocus vntr analysis (mlva) typing system for this pathogen. variation was detected at six vntr loci in a set of 56 isolates from california, oklahoma, arizona, and oregon and the f. tularensis live vaccine strain. pcr assays revealed diversity at these loci with total a ... | 2001 | 11526148 |
| tularemia could be bioweapons threat. | | 2001 | 11544853 |
| preliminary analysis and annotation of the partial genome sequence of francisella tularensis strain schu 4. | | 2001 | 11576297 |
| nucleotide sequence, structural organization, and functional characterization of the small recombinant plasmid pom1 that is specific for francisella tularensis. | pom1 is a recombinant 4442-bp plasmid that includes the replicon of the francisella novicida-like strain f6168 cryptic plasmid pfnl10 and the tetracycline resistance gene (tetc) of plasmid pbr328. pom1 can stably replicate and is maintained in francisella tularensis biovars tularensis, palaearctica, and palaearctica var. japonica. the replicon of pom1 includes the ori region and the repa gene. the ori region, located upstream of the repa gene includes two sets of 31- and 13-bp direct repeats (dr ... | 2001 | 11591134 |
| [tularemia outbreak in the province of cuenca associated with crab handling]. | to report the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of 19 patients diagnosed of tularemia at our hospital following an epidemic outbreak occurred in our health area. | 2001 | 11594130 |
| construction of a francisella tularensis two-dimensional electrophoresis protein database. | we have started the construction of a two-dimensional database of the proteome of francisella tularensis, a bacterium that is responsible for the highly pathogenic disease tularemia. the genome of this intracellular pathogen is not completely sequenced yet and, currently, information about only 66 proteins is available from ncbi database. we have analyzed the f. tularensis live vaccine strain by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with immobilized ph 3-10 gradient in the first dimension and 9-16 ... | 2001 | 11681204 |
| risk of lyme disease: perceptions of residents of a lone star tick-infested community. | lone star ticks (amblyomma americanum) have been suggested as a vector of the agent of lyme disease (borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) in the usa, based on associations with an infection manifesting mainly as erythema migrans. in laboratory experiments, however, they failed to transmit b. burgdorferi sensu stricto. | 2001 | 11693973 |
| construction of a reporter plasmid for screening in vivo promoter activity in francisella tularensis. | francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that survives and multiplies inside macrophages. here we constructed a new promoter probe plasmid denoted pkk214 by introduction of a promoter-less chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene into the shuttle vector pkk202. a promoter library was created in f. tularensis strain lvs by cloning random chromosomal dna fragments into pkk214. approximately 15% of the recombinant bacteria showed chloramphenicol resistance in vitro. the p ... | 2001 | 11728719 |
| genetic organization of the francisella plasmid pfnl10. | we report here the molecular characterization of pfnl10, a 3990-bp cryptic plasmid of francisella novicida-like f6168. the plasmid was maintained in f. novicida utah 112 and f. tularensis lvs strains. we sequenced the entire plasmid and found six open reading frames (orfs)-orf1, orf2, orf3, orf4, orf5, and orfm. orf3, orf4, orf5, and orfm are located on the same strand, and we designated it the plus strand. orf1 and orf2 are on the complementary strand. the orfs appear to be arranged in two oper ... | 2001 | 11735370 |
| clinical microbiological case: sore throat and painful bilateral cervical lymph nodes. | | 2001 | 11737089 |
| tularemia outbreak investigation in kosovo: case control and environmental studies. | a large outbreak of tularemia occurred in kosovo in the early postwar period, 1999-2000. epidemiologic and environmental investigations were conducted to identify sources of infection, modes of transmission, and household risk factors. case and control status was verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, western blot, and microagglutination assay. a total of 327 serologically confirmed cases of tularemia pharyngitis and cervical lymphadenitis were identified in 21 of 29 kosovo municipalitie ... | 2002 | 11749751 |
| an outbreak of primary pneumonic tularemia on martha's vineyard. | in the summer of 2000, an outbreak of primary pneumonic tularemia occurred on martha's vineyard, massachusetts. the only previously reported outbreak of pneumonic tularemia in the united states also occurred on the island in 1978. | 2001 | 11757506 |
| tularemia revisited. | | 2001 | 11757513 |
| biological agents: weapons of warfare and bioterrorism. | the use of microorganisms as agents of biological warfare is considered inevitable for several reasons, including ease of production and dispersion, delayed onset, ability to cause high rates of morbidity and mortality, and difficulty in diagnosis. biological agents that have been identified as posing the greatest threat are variola major (smallpox), bacillus anthracis (anthrax), yersinia pestis (plague), clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism), francisella tularensis (tularaemia), filoviruses (e ... | 2001 | 11774197 |
| proteome study of francisella tularensis live vaccine strain-containing phagosome in bcg/nramp1 congenic macrophages: resistant allele contributes to permissive environment and susceptibility to infection. | the phagocytosis of pathogens by macrophages classically initiates maturation of the phagosome that involves a dynamic exchange of phagosomal components with intracellular compartments of the endocytic pathway. the intracellular microorganisms have developed sophisticated mechanisms to sense environmental conditions and respond to them by phenotypic alterations that ensure their adaptation, survival and proliferation inside the cell. they have learned also to utilise host cellular components to ... | 2002 | 11788995 |
| different host defences are required to protect mice from primary systemic vs pulmonary infection with the facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen, francisella tularensis lvs. | francisella tularensis is a zoonotic, facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen capable of initiating infection, tularemia, via multiple routes including dermal micro-abrasions and inhalation. mouse models of systemically-initiated infection with f. tularensis lvs have been used extensively to reveal potential host defence mechanisms against the pathogen. such studies have demonstrated the critical need for neutrophils and interferon-gamma (ifn-gamma) to combat the early stages of primary exp ... | 2002 | 11855943 |
| the microbiology laboratory's role in response to bioterrorism. | bioterrorism has existed since before the 14th century; however, the specter of such an attack is much greater today than ever before. technical expertise in microbiology and molecular testing, combined with the rapidity of worldwide air travel, has ensured that no geographic area would be untouched in a widespread attack. clinical microbiology laboratories will play a pivotal role in the detection of attacks involving weapons of mass destruction. | 2002 | 11860302 |
| francisella tularensis isolation from various clinical specimens. | | 1996 | 11866851 |
| [stress-inducible bacterial proteins and virulence]. | different species of pathogenic bacteria, including salmonella, neisseria, listeria and francisella have been used to demonstrate relationship between the synthesis of stressor induced proteins by cells and the phenotypic manifestation of their virulence. the impact of such external factors as high temperature, low ph, osmolarity, substrate limitation, the content of active forms of oxygen, etc. is accompanied by the synthesis of different stressor induced proteins playing a complex role. under ... | 2001 | 11871286 |
| two cases of tularaemia after an orienteering contest on the non-endemic island of bornholm. | | 2002 | 11874174 |
| [a water-borne epidemic of tularemia in chlumcany]. | during an epidemic of tularaemia in chlumcany in december 2000 48 people, 36 adults, 12 children fell ill. in the patients the oroglandular form predominated which was diagnosed 46 times. none of the patients died. the vehicle of the infection was inadequately treated water which was used by the patients for the preparation of soda water and for washing. using the polymerase chain reaction francisellae were detected in two water samples. | 2002 | 11881296 |
| in vivo clearance of an intracellular bacterium, francisella tularensis lvs, is dependent on the p40 subunit of interleukin-12 (il-12) but not on il-12 p70. | to determine the role of interleukin-12 (il-12) in primary and secondary immunity to a model intracellular bacterium, we have comprehensively evaluated infection with francisella tularensis lvs in three murine models of il-12 deficiency. mice lacking the p40 protein of il-12 (p40 knockout [ko] mice) and mice treated in vivo with neutralizing anti-il-12 antibodies survived large doses of primary and secondary lvs infection but never cleared bacteria and exhibited a chronic infection. in dramatic ... | 2002 | 11895957 |
| tularemia--united states, 1990-2000. | tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative coccobacillus francisella tularensis. known also as "rabbit fever" and "deer fly fever," tularemia was first described in the united states in 1911 and has been reported from all states except hawaii. tularemia was removed from the list of nationally notifiable diseases in 1994, but increased concern about potential use of f. tularensis as a biological weapon led to its reinstatement in 2000. this report summarizes tularemia cases repor ... | 2002 | 11900351 |
| sweet's syndrome associated with francisella tularensis infection. | | 2001 | 11903682 |
| an outbreak of primary pneumonic tularemia. | | 2002 | 11919317 |
| immunohistochemical demonstration of francisella tularensis in lesions of cats with tularemia. | an immunohistochemical test was developed and validated for detection of francisella tularensis antigen in tissues of cats with fatal tularemia. ten cases of naturally occurring tularemia in cats were positive both by isolation of f. tularensis and immunohistochemical identification of f. tularensis antigen. nine additional cases with lesions typical of tularemia were positive for f. tularensis antigen, although bacterial cultures were not performed. immunohistochemical identification of f. tula ... | 2002 | 11939340 |
| tularemia and q fever. | the zoonotic infections caused by francisella tularensis and coxiella burnetii, tularemia and q fever, respectively, are two less commonly encountered clinical illnesses that are becoming increasingly recognized as epidemiologically important human diseases. the prevalence of tularemia and q fever can be positively impacted by increased awareness of the clinical entities that arise from infection by these arthropod-borne organisms. improved recognition of these clinical syndromes will lead to gr ... | 2002 | 11982309 |
| tularemia of the middle ear. | we report the case of a 10-year-old boy with prolonged fever who was found to have tularemia of the middle ear. otolaryngologic cases including oropharyngeal and glandular or ulceroglandular forms of the head and neck region are estimated to account for 12% of all tularemia cases, but to date we have not seen a report of tularemia in the middle ear. the possibility of tularemia may not occur to a physician because of the wide variation of clinical manifestations. | 2002 | 12005098 |
| rapid and sensitive detection of biological warfare agents using time-resolved fluorescence assays. | we have achieved sensitive, rapid and reproducible detection of three biological threat agents in a variety of biological and environmental matrices using the delfia time-resolved fluorometry (trf) assay system (perkin-elmer life sciences, akron, oh). existing elisa assays for the detection of francisella tularensis, clostridium botulinum a/b neurotoxin (botnt a/b), and staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin b (seb) were converted to trf assays. they use 100 microl of positive control or unknown per ... | 2002 | 12009202 |
| exposure of laboratory workers to francisella tularensis despite a bioterrorism procedure. | a rapidly fatal case of pulmonary tularemia in a 43-year-old man who was transferred to a tertiary care facility is presented. the microbiology laboratory and autopsy services were not notified of the clinical suspicion of tularemia by the service caring for the patient. despite having a laboratory bioterrorism procedure in place and adhering to established laboratory protocol, 12 microbiology laboratory employees were exposed to francisella tularensis and the identification of the organism was ... | 2002 | 12037110 |
| [viability and virulence of francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica in water ecosystems (experimental study)]. | under conditions of artificial water biocenosis a virulent strain of f. tularensis could be detected in fresh water shrimps and mollusks for about a month, in conepoda for up to 20 days and in chydorus sphaericus for up to 7 days from the moment of the aquaria water contamination. in silt f. tularensis could be detected for a longer period (up to 2 months). daphnia, oligochaeta and c. sphaericus appeared to be unfavorable environment for this microorganism. the virulence level of f. tularensis m ... | 2002 | 12043166 |
| inhibition of carcinogenic and clastogenic effects of n-nitrosomorpholine in rats immunized with tularemia vaccine. | the aim of the present work was to study whether immunization of rats with tularemia live vaccine (tlv) can influence carcinogenic and mutagenic action of n-nitrosomorpholine (nnm). the experiments were performed with male albino random-bred rats. the first group of rats was immunized with tlv 15 days before the start of experiment. these animals and the second group (positive control) were treated with nnm orally, (total dose was about 250 mg/rat). rats including solvent (negative) control grou ... | 2002 | 12044064 |
| [tularemia--history, epidemiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis and therapy]. | tularemia was first described 90 years ago by mccoy as a disease of animals. at the beginning of twenties it was recognised by e. francis as a disease transmittable from animals to man. tularemia is caused by a gram-negative microbe francisella tularensis. epidemiological and clinical manifestations of the disease are highly diverse. the characteristic sign is the primary complex consisting from an initial ulceration and a regional lymphadenitis. in the czech republic tularemia was first identif ... | 2002 | 12061195 |
| in vitro susceptibility to quinolones of francisella tularensis subspecies tularensis. | francisella tularensis is a potent pathogen and a possible bioterrorism agent, for which quinolones offer promising new therapeutic options. there are, however, no data on the susceptibility to quinolones of natural isolates of f. tularensis tularensis, the highly virulent north american subspecies. in the present study, 8 isolates of f. tularensis tularensis, originating from 8 different states of the usa, and 16 us isolates of f. tularensis holarctica were tested. all 24 isolates showed mic va ... | 2002 | 12069013 |
| changes of the epidemiology and the clinical picture of tularemia in southern moravia (the czech republic) during the period 1936-1999. | the author has processed data on early occurrence of tularemia in southern moravia collected from literature, materials of epidemical ward of the regional hygienic station (rhs), brno, and clinical documentation of patients treated for tularemia at the clinic of infectious diseases, brno. tularemia has been appearing in southern moravia since autumn 1936. at that time, 290 people contracted the external (mainly ulceroglandular) form of this disease by handling tularemic hares. during the 60s, la ... | 2001 | 12086077 |
| mapping of immunoreactive antigens of francisella tularensis live vaccine strain. | francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica is the common causal agent of tularemia in europe. besides clinical signs, the diagnosis of the disease mostly depends on serological tests. to date, there is a lack of information about the f. tularensis antigens that induce antibody response. therefore, we have started comprehensive mapping of immunoreactive antigens using the attenuated live vaccine strain of f. tularensis lvs originating from the european virulent strain. for this purpose, the immunor ... | 2002 | 12124931 |
| the cxc chemokine murine monokine induced by ifn-gamma (cxc chemokine ligand 9) is made by apcs, targets lymphocytes including activated b cells, and supports antibody responses to a bacterial pathogen in vivo. | monokine induced by ifn-gamma (mig; cxc chemokine ligand 9) is an ifn-gamma-inducible cxc chemokine that signals through the receptor cxcr3 and is known to function as a chemotactic factor for human t cells, particularly following t cell activation. the mig gene can be induced in multiple cell types and organs, and mig has been shown to contribute to t cell infiltration into immune/inflammatory reactions in peripheral tissues in mice. we have investigated the expression and activities of mig and ... | 2002 | 12133969 |
| genotyping of francisella tularensis strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting, and 16s rrna gene sequencing. | we evaluated three molecular methods for identification of francisella strains: pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge), amplified fragment length polymorphism (aflp) analysis, and 16s rrna gene sequencing. the analysis was performed with 54 francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica, 5 f. tularensis subsp. tularensis, 2 f. tularensis subsp. novicida, and 1 f. philomiragia strains. on the basis of the combination of results obtained by pfge with the restriction enzymes xhoi and bamhi, pfge reveale ... | 2002 | 12149360 |
| [an epidemic of tularemia in the nish area]. | tularaemia, as a rare disease, surprised medical workers in 1999 and 2000 when it was detected and diagnosed in 31 patients. in 1999 patients were registered in villages of the sokobanja community, and in 2000 also in other communities in the district of nish. patients were peasants, mostly housewives. glandular form of the disease was dominant. the main clinical symptoms were: tonsillitis, pain in the region of enlarged lymphatic glands and temperature, biohumoral syndrome presented accelerated ... | 2002 | 12154521 |
| [tularemia as a biological weapon]. | tularemia is a zoonosis, caused by the gram-negative bacterium, francisella tularensis. the organism penetrates the human body through interrupted skin or mucous membranes, via animal contact or bites from ticks, deer-flies and mosquitoes. contaminated aerosol and water are alternative modes of transmitting the germ through the respiratory and alimentary tracks. in light of its high infectivity in aerosol and its offensive occupation in the past, tularemia may appear in a biological warfare cont ... | 2002 | 12170560 |
| the 2000 tularemia outbreak: a case-control study of risk factors in disease-endemic and emergent areas, sweden. | a widespread outbreak of tularemia in sweden in 2000 was investigated in a case-control study in which 270 reported cases of tularemia were compared with 438 controls. the outbreak affected parts of sweden where tularemia had hitherto been rare, and these "emergent" areas were compared with the disease-endemic areas. multivariate regression analysis showed mosquito bites to be the main risk factor, with an odds ratio (or) of 8.8. other risk factors were owning a cat (or 2.5) and farm work (or 3. ... | 2002 | 12194773 |
| a procedure for differentiating between the intentional release of biological warfare agents and natural outbreaks of disease: its use in analyzing the tularemia outbreak in kosovo in 1999 and 2000. | the events of 11 september and the subsequent anthrax outbreaks in the usa have opened the world's eyes to the threat posed by terrorist groups, criminal organizations and lone operators who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. the open or covert use of pathogens and toxins as biological warfare agents can no longer be ruled out. against this background, the appearance of an unusual disease must be studied in order to clarify whether it is a natural or artificially caused occurrence. thi ... | 2002 | 12197873 |
| problems associated with potential massive use of antimicrobial agents as prophylaxis or therapy of a bioterrorist attack. | in addition to the direct sanitary damage of a terrorist attack caused by biological weapons, the consequences of the massive stockpiling and consumption of antimicrobial agents in order to treat or prevent the disease under a potential epidemic due to pathogenic bacteria must also be considered. bacillus anthracis, francisella tularensis and yersinia pestis are the bacteria most likely to be used as terrorist weapons. tetracyclines, quinolones and aminoglycoside are the antibiotics of choice ag ... | 2002 | 12197876 |
| [germs employed as biological weapons]. | | 2002 | 12215940 |
| mice vaccinated with the o-antigen of francisella tularensis lvs lipopolysaccharide conjugated to bovine serum albumin develop varying degrees of protective immunity against systemic or aerosol challenge with virulent type a and type b strains of the pathogen. | the purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a vaccine consisting of the o-polysaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide (lps) of francisella tularensis chemically conjugated to bovine serum albumin. the results show that conjugation preserved both the antigenicity and immunogenicity of the polysaccharide moiety. mice vaccinated with the glyco-conjugate, but not with bsa alone, were completely protected against an intradermal challenge with a highly virulent type b strain of f. tularensi ... | 2002 | 12297391 |
| those adorable little bunny rabbits. | | 2001 | 12355661 |
| tularemia. | francisella tularensis is the etiological agent of tularemia, a serious and occasionally fatal disease of humans and animals. in humans, ulceroglandular tularemia is the most common form of the disease and is usually a consequence of a bite from an arthropod vector which has previously fed on an infected animal. the pneumonic form of the disease occurs rarely but is the likely form of the disease should this bacterium be used as a bioterrorism agent. the diagnosis of disease is not straightforwa ... | 2002 | 12364373 |
| [tularemia as a potential weapon of bioterrorists]. | this paper addresses the issue of using airborne tularemia as a potential biological weapon of terrorists. because of its extreme infectivity, easy dissemination and substantial pathogenic ability, it may become a dangerous biological agent. an outbreak of acute febrile illness with pneumonia, pleuritis and hilar lymphadenitis in urban healthy populations, regardless of age and gender, should suggest an action of terrorism. the presumptive diagnosis should be based on epidemiological and clinica ... | 2002 | 12369513 |
| the identification of five genetic loci of francisella novicida associated with intracellular growth. | five transposon mutants of francisella novicida were isolated that are compromised in their ability to grow in mouse macrophages in vitro. sequence analysis of the dna flanking the transposon insertions identified the genes that were interrupted in these mutants. one of the inactivated loci corresponds to the francisella tularensis gene that encodes a 23-kda protein that is the most prominently induced protein following macrophage infection. another insertion was localised to approximately 2 kb ... | 2002 | 12393200 |
| a novel class of microbial phosphocholine-specific phospholipases c. | in this report we describe the 1,500-fold purification and characterization of the haemolytic phospholipase c (plc) of pseudomonas aeruginosa, the paradigm member of a novel plc/phosphatase superfamily. members include proteins from mycobacterium tuberculosis, bordetella spp., francisella tularensis and burkholderia pseudomallei. purification involved overexpression of the plchr1,2 operon, ion exchange chromatography and native preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. matrix-assisted lase ... | 2002 | 12410824 |