North American zoonoses

Fever of Unknown Origin in Childhood

Childhood fever of unknown origin (FUO) is most often related to an underlying infection but can also be associated with a variety of neoplastic, rheumatologic, and inflammatory conditions. Repeated, focused reviews of patient history and physical examination are often helpful in suggesting a likely diagnosis. Diagnostic workup should be staged, usually leaving invasive testing for last. Advances in molecular genetic techniques have increased the importance of these assays in the diagnosis of FUO in children.

Unusual presentatıon of oropharyngeal tularemıa: a case report

Tularemia is a bacterial zoonotic disease that is caused by Francisella tularensis and among the infectious reasons that cause fever of unknown origin (FUO) in children. Typhoidal or pneumonic tularemia can manifest predominantly as FUO. However, presentation of oropharyngeal tularemia as FUO is uncommon. Here, we report a case of an 11-month-old infant with oropharyngeal tularemia presenting as FUO. To the best of our knowledge, this clinical presentation of oropharyngeal tularemia has not been previously reported in literature.

Frequency of Detection of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. in the Faeces of Wild Rats (Rattus spp.) in Trinidad and Tobago

The study was conducted to determine the frequency of isolation of Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli O157 in the faecal samples of rats trapped across the regional corporations in Trinidad and to assess their resistance to antimicrobial agents. A total of 204 rats were trapped for the detection of selected bacteria. Standard methods were used to isolate Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli O157. Characterization of E. coli was done on sorbitol MacConkey agar to determine non-sorbitol fermentation, blood agar to determine haemolytic and mucoid colonies and by using E. coli O157 antiserum to determine O157 strain. The disc diffusion method was used to determine resistance to nine antimicrobial agents. Of the 204 rats, 4 (2.0%), 7 (3.4%) and 171 (83.8%) were positive for Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and E. coli, respectively. Of the 171 isolates of E. coli tested 0 (0.0%), 25 (14.6%) and 19 (11.1%) were haemolytic, mucoid and non-sorbitol fermenters, respectively. All isolates were negative for the O157 strain. The frequency of resistance to the 9 antimicrobial agents tested was 75% (3 of 4) for Salmonella, 85.7% (6 of 7) of Campylobacter spp. and 36.3% (62 of 171) for E. coli (P < .05; χ(2)).