BACKGROUND In Western countries, leptospirosis is uncommon and mainly occurs in farmers and individuals indulging in water-related activities. In tropical countries, leptospirosis can be up to 1000 times more frequent and risk factors for this often severe disease may differ. METHODS We conducted a one-year population-based matched case-control study to investigate the frequency and associate...

A novel competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed and evaluated for detection of antibodies against Francisella tularensis in humans. The assay is based on the ability of serum antibodies to inhibit the binding of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against F. tularensis lipopolysaccharide antigens. The assay was evaluated using serum samples of tularemia patients, ...

The aim of this study was to investigate a tularemia outbreak in the Thrace region of Turkey. The outbreak occurred in Demirkoy village of Edirne, in 2005. Of 400 villagers, 266 were examined and their sera were taken. Throat swabs and lymph node aspirates were cultured. Specific antibodies in patients and domestic animals were screened by a microagglutination test. PCR assays and cultures of t...

AIM This study was taken up to develop an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (i-ELISA) for screening antibodies against Leptospira spp. in canines. MATERIALS AND METHODS An i-ELISA was developed using outer membrane protein extracted from Leptospira interrogans serovar canicola used for coating the well with concentration of 0.5 µg/µl. A total of 250 serum samples from clinically affe...

INTRODUCTION Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by Francisella tularensis. The oculoglandular form is one of the rarest forms. In this study, evaluated tularemia patients, focusing on the ocular form and the efficacy of early antibiotic therapy. METHODOLOGY During a tularemia outbreak, the epidemiological and clinical findings, laboratory assays, and drugs used for the treatment of 48 pat...

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 cas...

Oropharyngeal tularemia was identified as the cause of a die-off in captured wild prairie dogs at a commercial exotic animal facility in Texas. From this point source, Francisella tularensis-infected prairie dogs were traced to animals distributed to the Czech Republic and to a Texas pet shop. F. tularensis culture isolates were recovered tissue specimens from 63 prairie dogs, including one eac...

OBJECTIVE Detecting antibodies against Leptospira spp. in Neotropical primates and workers in a Colombian Zoo and identifying the risk factors associated with the disease. METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed regarding 65 Neotropical primates and 20 zookeepers. The samples were processed by microagglutination test (MAT) using a reference strain collection consisting of 21 Leptospira ...

A review of recently published work is presented on the nature of the agglutination of human peripheral lymphocytes and cultured lymphoblastoid cells by the hemolymph agglutinins of two arachnoids, the Horsefoot (Limulus polyphemus), alias Horseshoe Crab, and the Saharan Scorpion (Androctonus australis). Microagglutination techniques were utilized to study the specificity of the whole serum and...