Babesiosis in Lower Hudson Valley, New York, USA

Joseph, Julie; Roy, Sumith; Shams, Navid; Visintainer, Paul; Nadelman, Robert B.; Hosur, Srilatha; Nelson, John; Wormser, Gary P.

doi:10.3201/eid1705.101334

Cited by 80 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the lower Hudson Valley region of NYS, five locally acquired cases of babesiosis were reported in 2001 (Kogut et al 2005). The incidence had increased 20-fold from 2001 through 2008 ( Joseph et al 2011). We detected B. microti DNA in 6% (n = 25/628 pools) of samples tested.…”

Section: Babesia Microtimentioning

confidence: 79%

The Prevalence of Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens inIxodes ScapularisCollected in the Hudson Valley, New York State

Aliota

Dupuis

Wilczek

et al. 2014

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged tick, is capable of transmitting the pathogens that cause Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi), babesiosis (Babesia microti), anaplasmosis (Anaplasma phagocytophilum), and to a lesser extent Powassan encephalitis (deer tick virus [DTV]). These pathogens represent significant public health problems, but little is known about the occurrence and co-infection prevalence of these pathogens in I. scapularis. Here, we used standard PCR and pathogen-specific primers to estimate the prevalence of infection of A. phagocytophilium, B. burgdorferi, B. microti, and Ehrlichia chaffeensis in questing nymph and adult I. scapularis collected from sites in Putnam and Dutchess counties in southern New York in 2011. To detect DTV infection, cell cultures were observed for the presence of cytopathic effects and positive results were confirmed via real time RT-PCR. In 466 individually sampled adult ticks, B. burgdorferi had the highest prevalence of infection (55%) followed by A. phagocytophilum (18.2%), DTV (3.4%), B. microti (3.2%), and E. chaffeensis (1.5%). Infection with two pathogens occurred in 13.3% of ticks, and 10 ticks were infected with three combinations of three pathogens. These results provide an estimate of the rate of co-infection, which then can help inform the epidemiological risk of contracting multiple zoonotic tick-borne pathogens within the Hudson Valley region of New York State.

show abstract

Section: Babesia Microtimentioning

confidence: 79%

The Prevalence of Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens inIxodes ScapularisCollected in the Hudson Valley, New York State

Aliota

Dupuis

Wilczek

et al. 2014

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Another limitation of our study is that we made no attempt to assess whether our patients may have been coinfected with babesiosis (18). This omission probably had minimal impact on our findings, however, since babesiosis did not occur in our geographic area of New York until 2001 (19,20).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Differences and Similarities between Culture-Confirmed Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis and Early Lyme Disease

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of certain Ixodes ticks, which can also transmit Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the cause of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Although culture can be used to identify patients infected with A. phagocytophilum and is the microbiologic gold standard, few studies have evaluated culture-confirmed patients with HGA. We conducted a prospective study in which blood culture was used to detect HGA infection in patients with a compatible clinical illness. Early Lyme disease was defined by the presence of erythema migrans. The epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory features of 44 patients with culture-confirmed HGA were compared with those of a convenience sample of 62 patients with early Lyme disease. Coinfected patients were excluded. Patients with HGA had more symptoms (P ‫؍‬ 0.003) and had a higher body temperature on presentation (P < 0.001) than patients with early Lyme disease. HGA patients were also more likely to have a headache, dizziness, myalgias, abdominal pain, anorexia, leukopenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, or elevated liver enzymes. A direct correlation between the number of symptoms and the duration of illness at time of presentation (rho ‫؍‬ 0.389, P ‫؍‬ 0.009) was observed for HGA patients but not for patients with Lyme disease. In conclusion, although there are overlapping features, culture-confirmed HGA is a more severe illness than early Lyme disease. Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) and Lyme disease typically occur in the same geographic areas since both are acquired by the bite of infected Ixodes ticks (1-5). The etiologic agents, however, are quite different. HGA is caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum, an obligate intracellular bacterium, whereas Lyme disease is caused by an extracellular spirochetal bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi (1, 2).The hallmark of early Lyme disease is a distinctive annular erythematous skin lesion, called erythema migrans, that occurs at the site of tick inoculation of B. burgdorferi. Erythema migrans usually can be diagnosed clinically without the need for laboratory confirmation (1). In contrast, HGA is not known to be associated with a distinctive clinical feature, and therefore, laboratory testing is required to establish the diagnosis (2-5).Although A. phagocytophilum can be cultured in vitro, few laboratories offer such testing. Consequently, most of the reported cases have been diagnosed serologically or through PCR detection of A. phagocytophilum DNA. These laboratory methods, while generally reliable, are not necessarily equivalent to the diagnostic gold standard in microbiology of a positive culture. No systematic comparison of culture-confirmed HGA with Lyme disease has been reported. In this study, we compare the epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory features of culture-confirmed HGA with those of early Lyme disease. MATERIALS AND METHODSStudy design. This was a prospective, observational study that recorded the baseline epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory features of patients with culture-confirmed HGA ...

show abstract

“…In this study, we developed a multiplex real-time PCR assay for detection of B. microti DNA in blood samples. The diagnostic value of this assay was validated in patients from the Lower Hudson Valley region of New York State where I. scapularis transmitted diseases are highly endemic (Aliota et al, 2014;Hersh et al, 2014;Joseph et al, 2011;Kogut et al, 2005). It is estimated that 3-7% of I. scapularis ticks in this area are infected with B. microti (Aliota et al, 2014;Hersh et al, 2014;Kogut et al, 2005), while the highest incidence of human babesiosis has been reported in residents of three counties in the Lower Hudson Valley east of the Hudson River (6.6-25.1 cases per 100,000 population in 2013) (NYSDOH, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilization of a real-time PCR assay for diagnosis of Babesia microti infection in clinical practice

Wang

Wormser

Zhuge

et al. 2015

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Babesiosis in Lower Hudson Valley, New York, USA

Abstract: Cases were associated with tick bites and receipt of blood products.

Cited by 80 publications

References 17 publications

The Prevalence of Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens inIxodes ScapularisCollected in the Hudson Valley, New York State

The Prevalence of Zoonotic Tick-Borne Pathogens inIxodes ScapularisCollected in the Hudson Valley, New York State

Differences and Similarities between Culture-Confirmed Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis and Early Lyme Disease

Utilization of a real-time PCR assay for diagnosis of Babesia microti infection in clinical practice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About