A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Tue 25 Oct 11 2011
Source: The Local [edited]
Swedish researchers have discovered a new tick-borne illness that can
cause blood clots in the legs and lungs, with 3 cases having been
reported in Sweden.
A total of 8 cases of the disease have been reported so far, with
patients in Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic also having
been infected. All of those affected by the disease suffer from a
weakened immune system, the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported.
The illness, which researchers call "neo disease" after the bacterium
that causes it, _Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis_, also brings
about flu-like symptoms with long-lasting high fevers, coughing, and
aches. The disease can be treated with antibiotics.
The 1st case was discovered in the summer of 2009 after a 77-year-old
man from Gothenburg came down with a high fever and lost
consciousness. During his treatment, doctors discovered blood clots in
his leg and lungs. The man's fever returned several times and doctors
eventually found traces of an unknown bacterium in his blood. The
disease, which is transmitted by ticks, had never before been reported
in Sweden and it was unclear what caused the disease in humans. The 2
additional Swedes who have become ill due to the bacteria are in their
60s and 70s.
It remains unclear why the disease causes blood clots, but researchers
have a number of theories in mind. "When the body can't deal with an
infection in the blood, it traps the infection in a blood clot,"
Christine Wenneras, a professor at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in
Gothenburg, told the newspaper.
According to researchers, 10 percent of ticks in southern Sweden carry
the bacteria.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Sweden can be seen at
[Anaplasmataceae is a family of Gram negative, obligate intracellular
alphaproteobacteria that consists of 6 genetically distinct genera: 1)
_Ehrlichia_, _Anaplasma_, and _Neorickettsia_; 2) _Wolbachia_ and
_Aegyptianella_, which only infect nematodes, arthropods, or birds;
and 3) the newly proposed genus _Candidatus Neoehrlichia_
(
used for an interim taxonomic status of noncultivable prokaryotic
organisms. _Neoehrlichia_ refers to a new _Ehrlichia_; _mikurensis_
refers to Mikura Island in southern Japan, where the organism was
discovered (
_Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis _ recently was discovered in ticks
and wild rodents in East Asia (Japan, China, Russia) and Europe
(Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Germany)
(
but distinct species, _Candidatus N. lotoris_, was found in raccoons
in North America (
Experimental infection with _Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis_ in
rats did not elicit antibodies against _Anaplasma phagocytophilum_ and
_Ehrlichia muris_ antigens
(
support the position that _Candidatus Neoehrlichia_ is a separate
genus.
_Candidatus N. mikurensis_ has been identified by PCR amplification of
its 16S rRNA gene in at least 4 humans in Europe with febrile
illnesses that was associated with thrombotic or hemorrhagic events.
Several of the infected patients have been immunocompromised
(
[see also:
2010
----
Anaplasmosis, human granulocytic - China (03): susp. 20101002.3573
Anaplasmosis, bovine - USA: (KS, NE, IA) 20100918.3376
Anaplasmosis, human granulocytic - China (02): background
20100912.3292
Anaplasmosis, human granulocytic - China: (HE) susp, RFI
20100910.3274
Anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis - USA: (WI, MN) Alert 20100515.1593
2009
----
Anaplasmosis - USA: (WI, MN) 20090909.3186
2008
----
Anaplasmosis, nosocomial transmission - China: (AH) 20081120.3661
Anaplasmosis, human granulocytic - USA: (MN), ex transfusion 2007
20081024.3362
Anaplasmosis, human granulocytic - Canada: 1st rep., (AB)
20080731.2352
2007
----
Ehrlichiosis, fatal - USA (MO) 20070607.1849
2003
----
Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic - USA (MA) 20030903.2211
Ehrlichiosis, human monocytic - USA (NC) 20030625.1571
1999
----
Ehrlichiosis, human - Mexico 19990713.1173
1998
----
Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic - USA (Connecticut) 19980713.1318
Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic - Sweden 19980418.0719
1995
----
Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (5) 19950802.0625
Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis - Europe? 19950723.0581]
.................................................sb/ml/mj/dk
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