Mild Botulism From Illicitly Brewed Alcohol in a Large Prison Outbreak in Mississippi.

Botulism is typically described as a rapidly progressing, severe neuroparalytic disease. Foodborne botulism is transmitted through consuming food or drink that has been contaminated with botulinum toxin. During a botulism outbreak linked to illicitly brewed alcohol (also known as "hooch" or "pruno") in a prison, 11 (35%) of 31 inmates that consumed contaminated hooch had mild illnesses. This includes 2 inmates with laboratory confirmed botulism. The most frequently reported signs and symptoms among the 11 patients with mild illness included dry mouth (91%), hoarse voice (91%), difficulty swallowing (82%), fatigue (82%), and abdominal pain (82%). Foodborne botulism is likely underdiagnosed and underreported in patients with mild illness. Botulism should be considered on the differential diagnosis for patients with cranial nerve palsies.

Chikungunya in Mississippi: The Health Department Response to Imported Cases.

Chikungunya (CHIK), a newly recognized mosquito-borne disease in the Western Hemisphere, has resulted in well over a million cases since December 2013. Only about a dozen locally-acquired cases thus far have been reported in the U. S. (Florida), but approximately 1500 imported cases have been seen in returning travelers from the Caribbean and Central and South America. Public health officials are concerned that imported cases may lead to infection of local mosquitoes and, thus disease transmission. This paper documents 9 confirmed CHIK cases in Mississippi: 5 resulting from travel to the Dominican Republic, 2 from Haiti, 1 from Honduras, and 1 from Puerto Rico. In addition, the Mississippi State Department of Health response to those cases is presented and discussed.

The United States Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Study: evidence for vector-borne transmission of the parasite that causes Chagas disease among United States blood donors.

BACKGROUND: Screening US blood donors for Trypanosoma cruzi infection is identifying autochthonous, chronic infections. Two donors in Mississippi were identified through screening and investigated as probable domestically acquired vector-borne infections, and the US T. cruzi Infection Study was conducted to evaluate the burden of and describe putative risk factors for vector-borne infection in the United States. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood donors who tested enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay repeat reactive and positive by radioimmunoprecipitation assay, and whose mode of infection could not be identified, were evaluated with a questionnaire to identify possible sources of infection and by additional serologic and hemoculture testing for T. cruzi infection. RESULTS: Of 54 eligible donors, 37 (69%) enrolled in the study. Fifteen (41%) enrollees had four or more positive serologic tests and were considered positive for T. cruzi infection; one was hemoculture positive. Of the 15, three (20%) donors had visited a rural area of an endemic country, although none had stayed for 2 or more weeks. All had lived in a state with documented T. cruzi vector(s) or infected mammalian reservoir(s), 13 (87%) reported outdoor leisure or work activities, and 11 (73%) reported seeing wild reservoir animals on their property. CONCLUSION: This report adds 16 cases, including one from the Mississippi investigation, of chronic T. cruzi infection presumably acquired via vector-borne transmission in the United States to the previously reported seven cases. The estimated prevalence of autochthonous infections based on this study is 1 in 354,000 donors. Determining US foci of vector-borne transmission is needed to better assess risk for infection.

West Nile virus infection transmitted by blood transfusion.

BACKGROUND: A patient with transfusion-transmitted West Nile virus (WNV) infection confirmed by viral culture of a blood component is described. A 24-year-old female with severe postpartum hemorrhage developed fever, chills, headache, and generalized malaise after transfusion of 18 units of blood components; a serum sample and the cerebrospinal fluid tested positive for the presence of WNV IgM antibodies. An investigation was initiated to determine a possible association between transfusion and WNV infection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood donors were assessed for recent infection through questionnaires and WNV testing of serum samples. Whole-blood retention segments and untransfused blood components were sent to the CDC to test for the presence of WNV through PCR (TaqMan, Applied Biosystems), IgM ELISA, plaque reduction neutralization testing, and viral culture. RESULTS: Three of 15 available donor retention segments were WNV PCR-positive. WNV was recovered from one associated blood component. The implicated donor was symptomatic near the time of donation; serology confirmed WNV IgM seroconversion. CONCLUSION: Seroconversion of a symptomatic donor, the presence of viral genetic material in an associated whole-blood retention segment, and recovery of WNV from an associated component provides compelling evidence for transfusion-acquired infection. This report has important implications for blood safety.