Borrelia miyamotoi Infection in Immunocompromised Man, California, USA, 2021.

Infection with Borrelia miyamotoi in California, USA, has been suggested by serologic studies. We diagnosed B. miyamotoi infection in an immunocompromised man in California. Diagnosis was aided by plasma microbial cell-free DNA sequencing. We conclude that the infection was acquired in California.

Case report: human granulocytic anaplasmosis causes acute myopericarditis with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Tick-borne illness are becoming increasingly common, in a spreading geographic area. Lyme disease is a well-known cause of cardiovascular disease, but anaplasmosis has previously had relatively little reported association with conduction and myocardial disease. Case Summary: A 65-year-old man with fever and malaise was admitted to the intensive care unit in shock. Electrocardiogram showed new atrial fibrillation and conduction abnormalities. Transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrated normal left ventricular ejection fraction but significant right ventricle dysfunction. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings were consistent with myopericarditis. Workup revealed human granulocytic anaplasmosis without Lyme. He recovered with doxycycline. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is one of the first reported cases of anaplasmosis causing electrical conduction and myocardial disease with haemodynamic instability in an isolated infection. Treatment with appropriate antibiotics and supportive care allowed the patient to recover to his functional baseline within a month from being discharged from the hospital. Recognition of anaplasmosis in the absence of Lyme disease as a potential cause of electrical and myocardial disease is important in the context of increasing anaplasmosis incidence across the United States.

Urban climate-health governance: charting the role of public health in large global city adaptation plans

Over the last decade many large world cities have scaled up efforts at climate adaptation, a primary focus of which is protecting population health. With extreme weather disasters increasing worldwide, public health agencies are among local institutions under greatest stress;the Covid-19 pandemic has only heightened pressure on these agencies. Yet the limited literature examining adaptation actions across world cities suggest few, mainly high-income cities report health-related adaptation, while city public health agency engagement in adaptation has received little research attention. In this comparative review, we aimed to characterize the public health role in the adaptation plans of 22 large cities pre-identified as highly health-adaptive, by examining five health-associated adaptation activities chosen as "promising practice" based on evidence synthesized from evaluation research and practical experience: (i) hazard and vulnerability mapping;(ii) extreme weather preparedness and response;(iii) extreme heat plans (including heat early warning);(iv) non-heat early warning (e.g., flooding, vector-borne disease);and (v) climate-health monitoring and outcome surveillance. We found most (90%) city adaptation plans reported actions in at least three of these five activity areas. However, only 73% of these health-focused plans reported involvement of a public health agency (though the share was higher for cities in low- and middle-income countries). We detected differences across the five activities, including an ascending pattern of public health engagement starting with heat plans and including activities such as preparedness and mapping as health agency involvement increased. We also identified substantial presence of other city agencies-notably urban planning, emergency management and public utilities-in implementing these health-associated activities. With every world region likely to experience more widespread and intensifying climate impacts, and growing pressure on local public health agencies in conjunction with the Covid-19 pandemic, we identify opportunities for enhancing public health engagement in climate adaptation in large cities with a view to scaling up their ability to contribute to climate adaptation goals.

Molecular Epidemiology and Species Diversity of Tick-Borne Pathogens of Animals in Egypt: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TTBPs) are listed among the most serious concerns harming Egyptian livestock's productivity. Several reports on tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) from various geographical regions in the country were published. However, data on the molecular characterization of TBPs are the most beneficial for understanding the epidemiology of this important group of pathogens. In this study, we present the first meta-analysis on the molecular epidemiology and species diversity of TBPs infecting animals in Egypt. All published studies on TBPs were systematically collected from various databases (PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and Google Scholar). Data from eligible papers were extracted and subjected to various analyses. Seventy-eight studies were found to be eligible for inclusion. Furthermore, ticks infesting animals that were molecularly screened for their associated pathogens were also included in this study to display high species diversity and underline the high infection risk to animals. Theileria annulata was used as parasite model of TBPs to study the genetic diversity and transmission dynamics across different governorates of Egypt. This study extends cross-comparisons between all published molecular data on TBPs in Egypt and provides resources from Egyptian data in order to better understand parasite epidemiology, species diversity, and disease outcome as well as the development and implementation of prevention and control methods for public health, veterinary care practitioners, and animal owners all over the country.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on other infections differs by their route of transmission: A retrospective, observational study in Japan.

INTRODUCTION: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and people's subsequent behavioral changes have decreased the cases of respiratory infection worldwide. However, research on infectious diseases with other transmission modes is insufficient. The aim was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-respiratory infectious diseases: infectious enterocolitis, sexually transmitted diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and syphilis, and tick-borne diseases. METHODS: This retrospective, cohort study used comprehensive surveillance data from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021. The number of cases of infectious diseases before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-2019) was compared with that during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Reduction rates were calculated as the number of disease cases during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, respectively, divided by the mean number of disease cases in 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: The total numbers of cases of infectious enterocolitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and tick-borne diseases during the study period were 2,507,304 cases, 24,972 cases, and 3012 cases, respectively. The number of cases decreased for infectious enterocolitis and sexually transmitted diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic, with an approximately 40-50% decrease in enterocolitis and 30-55% decreases in sexually transmitted diseases. However, cases of tick-borne diseases changed little, with a 0.2% increase in 2020 and a 6% increase in 2021. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic had a different impact on the number of cases of infectious diseases depending on their mode of transmission.

Research status and trend of zoonosis and zoonotic microorganisms based on pubmed database retrieval

Objective: To gather information on the research status and the hot spots of zoonosis and zoonotic microorganisms worldwide, and to provide references for the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases in China. Method: COOC 12.6 and Citespace 5.8 R1 software were used to carry out frequency statistics, co-occurrence analysis, cluster analysis, timeline analysis and burst analysis on the keywords associated with zoonosis and zoonotic microorganisms in PubMed database. Result: According to the keywords frequency statistics and co-occurrence analysis results from the year of 2001 to 2021 in pubMed database, the zoonosis and zoonotic microorganisms arousing high international attentions were classified into the following three categories: the first category was commonly observed zoonotic microorganisms such as Brucella, hepatitis E virus, Streptococcus, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella, to which continuous public attentions were still needed to be paid;the second category was the zoonotic microorganisms worldwide concerned in recent years such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza A virus, which were worthy of more in-depth research to control the spread of these diseases as soon as possible;the third category was the zoonosis that had massively prevailed in specific regions abroad such as Q fever and middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), and these diseases were expected to be noticed in terms of imported risks to avoid their outbreaks in China. In addition to the above mentioned zoonosis and zoonotic microorganisms, some keywords associated with detection and diagnosis such as phylogeny and PCR were also of high interests. The cluster analysis generated a total of 10 clusters, in which the tick-borne infectious disease cluster suggested the role of ticks in the transmission of zoonotic diseases;the results of timeline and burst analysis demonstrated that among the zoonotic microorganisms, the attentions being paid to influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 were gradually increasing. At the same time, the detection technology of zoonotic microorganisms was evolving from specific sequence detection to whole genome sequencing. These fields were likely to be the research direction and trend in the future.

LYME BORRELIOSIS IN THE LUBLIN PROVINCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Background. Lyme borreliosis is the most common tick-borne disease in Poland. The onset of tick exposure in early spring 2020 coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence of Lyme borreliosis in the Lublin Province and in individual counties of the area in the year preceding the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and in the first year of its duration (2019-2020). Material and methods. Epidemiological analysis was performed on the basis of data from the National Institute of Public Health - National Research Institute and data from the Regional SanitaryEpidemiological Station in Lublin. Results. In 2020, the incidence rate of Lyme borreliosis in the Lublin Province was registered to decrease more than 2 times compared to 2019 (from 87.4/100,000 to 37.4/100,000). Decreases in the number of recorded cases were observed in all quarters of 2020. The largest, more than 5-fold decrease in the number of recorded cases was seen in Q4 (523 cases in 2019, 101 cases in 2020). The largest numerical decrease of the incidence rate was registered in Wlodawa County (-158.12/100,000), Biala Podlaska County (-143.43), Krasnik County (-122.20) and the city of Biala Podlaska (-83.92). On the other hand, the largest percentage decrease of the rate was noted in Lublin County (-92%), Biala Podlaska County (-91%), Ryki County (-90%) and the city of Biala Podlaska (-89%). Conclusions. Significant decreases in the incidence of Lyme borreliosis observed in 2020 in the Lublin Province are undoubtedly related to the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulties in accessing medical care for patients with ailments other than those resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Local healthcare providers should be alert to the possibility that more patients than ever before are presenting with a diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and, therefore, late manifestations of the disease.

Incidence of Tick-Borne Encephalitis during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Selected European Countries.

Ixodes ricinus ticks are one of the most important vectors and reservoirs of infectious diseases in Europe, and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one of the most dangerous human diseases transmitted by these vectors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the TBE incidence in some European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we analyzed the data published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Eurostat on the number of reported TBE and COVID-19 cases in 2020 and TBE cases in 2015-2019 (reference period). Significant differences in the TBE incidence were found between the analyzed countries. The highest TBE incidence was found in Lithuania (25.45/100,000 inhabitants). A high TBE incidence was also observed in Central European countries. In 12 of the 23 analyzed countries, there was significant increase in TBE incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 compared to 2015-2019. There was no correlation between the incidence of COVID-19 and TBE and between the availability of medical personnel and TBE incidence in the studied countries. In conclusion, Central Europe and the Baltic countries are areas with a high risk of TBE infection. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed restrictions, the incidence of TBE is increasing in more than half of the analyzed countries.

Anthemosoma garnhami in an HIV-Infected Man from Zimbabwe Living in South Africa.

An HIV-positive man from Zimbabwe living in South Africa sought treatment for multiple clinical signs, including fever, weight loss, anemia, and splenomegaly. We identified in his blood an African rodent piroplasm, Anthemosoma garnhami, related to Babesia species. This finding extends the known geographic and host range of A. garnhami.