Public Health Commons^™

Hepatitis C Virus And Other Flaviviridae Viruses Enter Cells Via Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor, Vincent Agnello, György Ábel, Mutasim Elfahal, Glenn B. Knight, Qing-Xiu Zhang

United States Public Health Resources

Endocytosis of the Flaviviridae viruses, hepatitis C virus, GB virus Cyhepatitis G virus, and bovine viral diarrheal virus (BVDV) was shown to be mediated by low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors on cultured cells by several lines of evidence: by the demonstration that endocytosis of these virus correlated with LDL receptor activity, by complete inhibition of detectable endocytosis by anti-LDL receptor antibody, by inhibition with anti-apolipoprotein E and -apolipoprotein B antibodies, by chemical methods abrogating lipoproteinyLDL receptor interactions, and by inhibition with the endocytosis inhibitor phenylarsine oxide. Confirmatory evidence was provided by the lack of detectable LDL receptor on cells known …

Preventing Hepatitis B And Hepatitis C Virus Infections In End-Stage Renal Disease Patients: Back To Basics, Scott Kellerman, Miriam Alter

United States Public Health Resources

In this issue of HEPATOLOGY, Mathurin et al. report the results of a 10-year retrospective study of kidney transplant recipients that compared rates of patient and graft survival among patients with and without chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.¹ Following this cohort of patients at intervals of 5 and 10 years, the investigators found a statistically significant decrease in survival in the HBV-infected group at both 5 and 10 years and a similar decrease at 10 years in the HCV-infected group. The findings of this study underscore the importance of preventing these infections in …

Wild Primate Populations In Emerging Infectious Disease Research: The Missing Link?, Nathan D. Wolfe, Ananias A. Escalante, William B. Karesh, Annelisa Kilbourn, Andrew Spielman, Altaf A. Lal

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Wild primate populations, an unexplored source of information regarding emerging infectious disease, may hold valuable clues to the origins and evolution of some important pathogens. Primates can act as reservoirs for human pathogens. As members of biologically diverse habitats, they serve as sentinels for surveillance of emerging pathogens and provide models for basic research on natural transmission dynamics. Since emerging infectious diseases also pose serious threats to endangered and threatened primate species, studies of these diseases in primate populations can benefit conservation efforts and may provide the missing link between laboratory studies and the well-recognized needs of early disease detection, …

A Prolonged Outbreak Of Shigella Sonnei Infections In Traditionally Observant Jewish Communities In North America Caused By A Molecularly Distinct Bacterial Subtype, Jeremy Sobel, Daniel N. Cameron, Johanne Ismail, Nancy Strockbine, Michael Williams, Pamela S. Diaz, Barbara Westley, Marilyn Rittmann, Joseph Dicristina, Halina Ragazzoni, Robert V. Tauxe, Eric D. Mintz

United States Public Health Resources

During 1994–1996, Shigella sonnei outbreaks occurred in 8 North American traditionally observant Jewish communities. These communities remain relatively separate from neighboring populations while maintaining close contact by travel with coreligionists in other cities. Epidemiologic investigations suggested community-to-community transmission via travel. Outbreak-related and control isolates of S. sonnei from each city were subtyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to confirm an epidemiologic linkage between outbreaks. Forty-three (94%) of 46 outbreak-related isolates had closely related PFGE patterns, constituting a single subtype; 33 (94%) of 35 control isolates demonstrated unrelated PFGE patterns. Several patterns differing by ≤3 bands were identified within the …

Mummies And Mummification Practices In The Southern And Southwestern United States, Mahmoud Y. El-Najjar, Thomas M. J. Mulinski, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Mummification was not intentional for most North American prehistoric cultures. Natural mummification occurred in the dry areas of North America, where mummies have been recovered from rock shelters, caves, and overhangs. In these places, corpses desiccated and spontaneously mummified. In North America, mummies are recovered from four main regions: the southern and southwestern United States, the Aleutian Islands, and the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. This chapter is limited to a discussion of burial practices and a tabulation of the location of mummies in the southwestern United States with some comments on mummies of the southern United States, including the Ozarks.

Human Dental Microwear Caused By Calcium Oxalate Phytoliths In Prehistoric Diet Of The Lower Pecos Region, Texas, Dennis Danielson, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Recent research demonstrates that silica phytoliths of dietary origin are associated with microwear of human teeth. Previous research has shown that severe enamel microwear and dental wear characterizes Archaic hunter-gatherers in the lower Pecos region of west Texas. Calcium oxalate crystals are especially common in Archaic coprolites. The vast majority are derived from prickly pear and agave, which were the dietary staples in west Texas for 6,000 years. The calcium oxalate phytoliths are harder than enamel. Therefore, calcium oxalate crystals are the most likely source of previously documented dental microwear and wear in the lower Pecos region.Am J Phys Anthropol …

Genetic Polymorphism Among Cryptosporidium Parvum Isolates: Evidence Of Two Distinct Human Transmission Cycles, Michael M. Peng, Lihua Xiao, Amanda R. Freeman, Michael J. Arrowood, Ananias A. Escalante, André C. Weltman, Corinne S.L. Ong, William R. Mac Kenzie, Altaf A. Lal, Charles B. Beard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

We report the results of molecular analysis of 39 isolates of Cryptosporidium parvum from human and bovine sources in nine human outbreaks and from bovine sources from a wide geographic distribution. All 39 isolates could be divided into either of two genotypes, on the basis of genetic polymorphism observed at the thrombospondin-related adhesion protein (TRAP-C2) locus. Genotype 1 was observed only in isolates from humans. Genotype 2, however, was seen in calf isolates and in isolates from a subset of human patients who reported direct exposure to infected cattle or consumed items thought to be contaminated with cattle feces. Furthermore, …

Association Between Plasma Homocysteine, Vitamin Status, And Extracranial Carotid-Artery Stenosis In The Framingham Study Population, Jacob Selhub, Paul F. Jacques, Andrew G. Bostrom, Ralph B. D'Agostino, Peter W. F. Wilson, Albert J. Belanger, Daniel H. O'Leary, Philip A. Wolf, David Rush, Ernst J. Schaefer, Irwin H. Rosenberg

United States Public Health Resources

Recent epidemiologic studies suggest that elevated homocysteine concentrations in plasma represent a risk factor for vascular disease and stroke. In the present study, we analyzed plasma samples from the 20th biannual examination of the Framingham Heart Study cohort to determine distribution of plasma homocysteine concentrations, with emphasis on relationships to vitamins that are involved in homocysteine metabolism and prevalence of carotid artery stenosis. Results showed that homocysteine was positively correlated with age. After controlling for age and sex, homocysteine exhibited strong inverse correlation with plasma folate, and weaker correlations with plasma vitamin B₁₂ and pyridoxal- 5' -phosphate. Homocysteine was …

Cystathionine Β-Synthase Deficiency: Metabolic Aspects, S. Harvey Mudd

United States Public Health Resources

Cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) deficiency was first demonstrated in 1964 in an eight-year-old mentally retarded girl with bilaterally dislocated optic lenses who excreted abnormally elevated amounts of homocystine in her urine. Patients with similar metabolic abnormalities and clinical findings had first been discovered 2 years earlier by Carson and her colleagues during a survey of mentally backward children in Northern Ireland. CBS deficiency has proven to be the most frequently encountered of the human genetic diseases causing homocystinuria and severe hyperhomocyst(e)inemia. Worldwide, it is detected with a frequency of about 1: 344,000 by screening programs of the newborn, but this is …

Blood Homocysteine Levels In The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (Nhanes Iii) In The United States: Preliminary Findings By Age And Sex, Irwin H. Rosenberg, Jacob Selhub, Paul F. Jacques, Barbara A. Bowman, Elaine W. Gunter, Clifford L. Johnson, R. S. Murphy

United States Public Health Resources

Evidence from scores of observational studies from many parts of the world have demonstrated an association between elevated blood total homocysteine levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke. These conditions are more prevalent in males than in females in virtually all populations studied, and their prevalence increases with advancing age. A much smaller body of data exists that describes an increasing tendency to higher homocysteine levels with increasing age.

There have been no previous reports of blood homocysteine levels measured in a cross-sectional sample throughout the age spectrum from childhood through the elderly. However, the …

The Etiology Of Neural Tube Defects, J. M. Scott, D. G. Weir, A. Molloy, J. Mcpartlin, Leslie Daly, P. Kirke, M. Conley, J. Lee, J. Mills

United States Public Health Resources

Evidence continues to confirm that periconceptional ingestion of folic acid can prevent neural tube defects, although the basis of this prevention has been unclear. To further elucidate the mechanism by which this occurs, blood samples were collected from more than 50,000 pregnant women and the samples analyzed for red cell folate, plasma folate, plasma vitamin B12, and plasma homocysteine levels. Based on the results, it appears that the beneficial effect of folic acid is in overcoming a metabolic block in a folatedependent enzyme or transport process. It is likely that methionine synthase may be directly or indirectly involved.

The neural …

Cancer Mortality In Workers Exposed To Phenoxy Herbicides, Chlorophenols, And Dioxins, Manolis Kogevinas, Heiko Becher, Trevor Benn, Pier Alberto Bertazzi, Paolo Boffetta, H. Bas Bueno-De-No-De-, David Coggon, Didier Colin, Dieter Flesch-Janys, Marilyn Fingerhut, Lois Green, Timo Kauppinen, Margareta Littorin, Elsebeth Lynge, John D. Mathews, Manfred Neuberger, Neil Pearce, Rodolfo Saracci

United States Public Health Resources

The authors examined cancer mortality in a historical cohort study of 21,863 male and female workers in 36 cohorts exposed to phenoxy herbicides, chlorophenols, and dioxins in 12 countries. Subjects in this updated and expanded multinational study coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer were followed from 1939 to 1992. Exposure was reconstructed using job records, company exposure questionnaires, and serum and adipose tissue dbxin levels. Among workers exposed to phenoxy herbicides contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p-dioxin (TCDD) or higher chlorinated dioxins, mortality from soft-tissue sarcoma (6 deaths; standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 2.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-4.43) …

Sites Other Than Nucleotide 234 Determine Cardiovirulence In Natural Isolates Of Coxsackievirus B3, Nora M. Chapman, Jose R. Romero, Mark A. Pallansch, Steven Tracy

United States Public Health Resources

The genetic site(s) that naturally determine the cardiovirulence phenotype of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) have yet to be mapped. Using two closely related CVB3 strains that differed in terms of cardiovirulence phenotype in mice, we previously reported the difference in phenotype mapped to a single site, nucleotide 234 (nt234) in the 58 non-translated region (NTR) of the CVB3 genome. When nt234 was C, the virus was attenuated and when U, the virus was cardiovirulent. To determine whether this finding was applicable to other strains of CVB3, we examined 13 different naturally occurring CVB3 strains isolated in different years in the United …

Sites Other Than Nucleotide 234 Determine Cardiovirulence In Natural Isolates Of Coxsackievirus B3, Nora M. Chapman, Jose R. Romero, Mark A. Pallansch, Steven Tracy

United States Public Health Resources

The genetic site(s) that naturally determine the cardiovirulence phenotype of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) have yet to be mapped. Using two closely related CVB3 strains that differed in terms of cardiovirulence phenotype in mice, we previously reported the difference in phenotype mapped to a single site, nucleotide 234 (nt234) in the 5’ non-translated region (NTR) of the CVB3 genome. When nt234 was C, the virus was attenuated and when U, the virus was cardiovirulent. To determine whether this finding was applicable to other strains of CVB3, we examined 13 different naturally occurring CVB3 strains isolated in different years in the United …

Parasite Biodiversity And Emerging Pathogens: A Role For Systematics In Limiting Impacts On Genetic Resources, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Emergence of pathogenic organisms continues as a threat to overall biodiversity and genetic resources. Macroparasites including helminths constitute a potential threat to economically important resources in agriculture and conservation biology. Limitation of this threat can be achieved through survey and inventory for biodiversity and the application of systematics to understand the host range , biogeography and history of faunas. Systematics constitutes the foundation for recognition of endemic and introduced elements of faunas and the basis for predicting the behavior of pathogens introduced to new ecological settings or host groups. The basis for emergence of pathogens has both a deep historical …

Evaluation Of Commercial Latex Reagents For Identification Of O157 And H7 Antigens Of Escherichia Coli, Evangeline G. Sowers, Joy G. Wells, Nancy A. Strockbine

United States Public Health Resources

Agglutination reactions obtained with three commercial latex reagents for detecting Escherichia coli O157 antigen (Oxoid Diagnostic Reagents, Hampshire, England; Pro-Lab Inc., Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada; and Remel Microbiology Products, Lenexa, Kans.) and one for detecting H7 antigen (Remel) were compared with those obtained by standard serologic methods by using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reference antisera for O157 and H7 antigens. For 159 strains of E. coli and related organisms, the Oxoid, Pro-Lab, and Remel O157 latex reagents each had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% compared with the CDC reference antiserum. For 106 strains of E. …

Cattle, Co-Wives, Children, And Calabashes: Material Context For Symbol Use Among The Il Chamus Of West-Central Kenya, Alan J. Osborn

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

This paper examines systemic contexts for symbol use among the Maa-speaking Il Chamus in the Lake Baringo region of west-central Kenya. The systemic context for symbols and material culture consists of the environmental constraints and behavioral responses that characterize pastoralist life in East Africa. The author's interest in this problem developed in response to Ian Hodder’s work among the Il Chamus, Pokot, and Tugen in the Baringo District. Unlike Hodder, however, the author argues that symbols and their use in East Africa can be more productively explained from a materialist perspective. Specifically, it is proposed that symbols affixed to certain …

Analytical Perspectives On A Protohistoric Cache Of Ceramic Jars From The Lower Colorado Desert, James M. Bayman, Richard H. Hevly, Boma Johnson, Karl J. Reinhard, Richard Ryan

Karl Reinhard Publications

A cache of hermetically sealed ceramic jars found in the Lower Colorado Desert was examined using chronometric dating, pollen and macrofossil extraction, design analysis, and water retention experimentation. The cache apparently dates to the protohistoricfifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Findings from these studies contribute to knowledge in four problem areas: (1) ceramic jar function and use-history; (2) storage technology and caching behavior; (3) ceramic dating and chronology; and (4) symbolic iconography. Biotic remains from inside the jars document their use for transporting a variety of riverine and desert plants, before they were finally filled with flowers and seeds, and placed in …

Isolation And Characterization Of A B-D-Glucuronidase-Producing Strain Of Escherichia Coli Serotype O157:H7 In The United States, Peggy S. Hayes, Kristina Blom, Peter Feng, Jay Lewis, Nancy A. Strockbine, Bala Swaminathan

United States Public Health Resources

A phenotypic variant of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 (G5101) was isolated from a patient with bloody diarrhea. Strain G5101 does not ferment sorbitol but is β-D-glucuronidase and urease positive. Serotyping and colony hybridization using a serotype-specific DNA probe confirmed that the isolate was O157:H7. G5101 produces Shiga-like toxins I and II and contains an eae gene that is highly conserved in the O157:H7 serotype. This strain would have been missed by laboratories that screen for the sorbitol-negative, β-D-glucuronidase- negative phenotype in isolating E. coli O157:H7 from clinical and food specimens.

Genetic Polymorphism Of The Ipah Multicopy Antigen Gene In Shigella Spps. And Enteroinvasive Escherichia Coli, Jerry M. Buysse, Antoinette B. Hartman, Nancy Strockbine, Malabi Venkatesan

United States Public Health Resources

The ipaH loci comprise a multicopy antigen gene family unique to Shigella species and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC). DNA probes derived from the Shigella flexneri stereotype 5 ipaH_7.8 gene were used to compare the molecular arrangement of ipaH alleles in a variety of Shigella and EIEC strains. Multiple copies of ipaH-homologous sequences were detected in all invasion plasmids examined. Oligonucleotide probes covering discrete 24 bp segments of the ipaH_7.8 gene and sequences flanking the ipaH_4.5 (probe H25) and ipaH_2.5 (probe H24) loci were used to define the extent of homology among invasion plasmid copies of …

Fulminant Hepatic Failure: Summary Of A Workshop, Jay Hoofnagle, Robert Carithers Jr., Craig Shapiro, Nancy Ascher

United States Public Health Resources

Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is defined by the appearance of severe liver injury with hepatic encephalopathy in a previously healthy person. There are an estimated 2,000 cases of FHF in the United States yearly, representing 0.1% of all deaths and, perhaps, 6% of liver related deaths. The causes of FHF are many, the chief ones in the United States being hepatitis A; B; non-A, non-B and drug induced liver disease. There are no specific therapies for FHF, however, liver transplantation is recommended for situations in which spontaneous recovery appears unlikely. Factors that are valuable in assessing the likelihood of spontaneous …

Cluster Analysis Of The Coprolites From Antelope House: Implications For Anasazi Diet And Cuisine, Mark Q. Sutton, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

This paper reports on a cluster analysis of 155 coprolites from Antelope House, a prehistoric Anasazi site in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. The analysis revealed three primary clusters; whole kernel maize, milled maize, and nonmaize, which we believe to represent seasonal- and preference-related cuisine. Protein residue analysis on a subsample of the specimens added depth to the analysis.

Trends And Differentials In Mortality From Cancers Of The Oral Cavity And Pharynx In The United States, 1973-1 987, Howard I. Goldberg, Stuart A. Lockwood, Stephen W. Wyatt, Linda S. Crossett

United States Public Health Resources

Background. This analysis consisted of an examination of trends and differentials in mortality from cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx in the United States for a recent 15-year period.

Methods. The authors have used national cause of death data for the United States and intercensal population estimates to examine mortality from oral and pharyngeal cancers between 1973 and 1987 and to study differentials according to gender, race, and region of residence.

Results. The overall mortality rate from these cancers decreased by 19% during the 15-year period, with most of the decline occurring after 1979. Mortality was …

Molecular Subtyping Of Salmonella Enteritidis Phage Type 8 Strains From The United States, Miguel A. Usera, Tanja Popovic, Cheryl A. Bopp, Nancy A. Strockbine

United States Public Health Resources

Salmonella enteridis is now the most common serotype of the genus Salmonella reported in the United States. Bacteriophage typing has been helpful for subdividing S. enteritidis strains from different sources in the United States. Most S. enteritidis outbreaks reported were egg related, and the majority of them were caused by strains of phage type 8. To determine whether restriction fragment length polymorphism of the rRNA genes (ribotyping) and of the genomic DNAs from two lysogenic phages from S. enteritidis could be used to discriminate between S. enteritidis phage type 8 strains, we conducted Southern hybridization studies on 24 isolates from …

Sanitation And Parasitism At Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

One focus of historical archaeology at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, is tracing the development of sanitation at the town through the 1800s and 1900s. Historical documentation indicates that there was a degree of resistance to the modernization of village sanitation. This study attempts to verify this resistance through examination of privy soils for parasites indicative of fecalborne disease, specifically the helminth species Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. The presence of these parasites in the early 1900s would indicate that fecal-borne disease due to poor sanitation continued to be an aspect of town life. The analysis revealed the …

Otitis Media, Mastoiditis, And Infracranial Lesions In Two Plains Indian Children, Robert W. Mann, Douglas W. Owsley, Karl J. Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

One disease condition that is common to nearly all children is otitis media, also known as middle ear disease. Although most people speak of it as a middle ear "infection," other causes such as neoplasm (tumor) can result in manifestations and symptoms mimicking an infectious process. This paper presents findings related to osseous lesions in two Indian children, approximately three to five years of age, who died with otitis media and infracranial lesions. Through macroscopic and radiographic analysis, it is possible to show that one child probably suffered from tuberculosis and the other from histiocytosis X. From an epidemiological and …

Trade, Contact, And Female Health In Northeast Nebraska, Karl Reinhard, Larry Tieszen, Karin L. Sandness, Lynae M. Beiningen, Elizabeth Miller, A. Mohammad Ghazi, Christiana E. Miewald, Sandra V. Barnum

Karl Reinhard Publications

Most scholars are understandably preoccupied with the impact of Europeans on native peoples who were passive, unwilling, or resistant participants in that contact. We present in this chapter a different case. The Missouri River tribes, including the Omaha and Ponca, willingly engaged in relations with Euramericans, especially in the fur trade that dominated interaction in this region. The time frame for this study is 1780- 1820, a period when interaction between individual traders and Native Americans was replaced by the dominance of the American Fur Company in organized exploitation of the Missouri River lands and peoples. This involvement later contributed …

Epa's Map Of Radon Zones, Nebraska, Sharon W. White, Lisa Ratcliff, Kirk Maconaughey, R. Thomas Peake, Dave Rowson, Steve Page, Linda C. S. Gundersen, R. Randall Schumann, James K. Otton, Doug Owen, Russell Dubiel, Kendell Dickinson, Sandra L. Szarzi

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Sections 307 and 309 of the 1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act (IRAA) direct EPA to identify areas of the United States that have the potential to produce elevated levels of radon. EPA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Association of, American State Geologists (AASG) have worked closely over the past several years to produce a series of maps and documents which address these directives. The EPA Map of Radon Zones is a compilation of that work and fulfills the requirements of sections 307 and 309 of IRAA. The Map of Radon Zones identifies, on a county-by-county basis, areas of …

Exploiting Structural Differences Among Heteroduplex Molecules To Simplify Genotyping The Dqa1 And Dqb1 Alleles In Human Lymphocyte Typing, Peter A. Zimmerman, Mary Carrington, Thomas B. Nutman

United States Public Health Resources

A novel approach to DNA probe hybridization and heteroduplex analysis, termed directed heteroduplex analysis (DHDA) is presented here to illustrate its utility in simplification of human lymphocyte antigen (HLA)- typing. By strategic labeling of single-stranded probe sequences, DHDA allows the identification of specific heteroduplex structures that contribute to the differentiation of DQAI and DQB1 alleles. Because of the high degree of polymorphism among major histocompatibility complex class 11 second exon sequences, this analysis of 50 different heteroduplex molecules provides evidence of the importance of unpaired bases and mismatched base pairs and their effect on heteroduplex electrophoretic-mobility differences. This strategy is …

Serological Cross-Reactions Between Escherichia Coli 0157 And Other Species Of The Genus Escherichia, Eugene W. Rice, Evangeline G. Sowers, Clifford H. Johnson, Michele E. Dunnigan, Nancy A. Strockbine, Stephen C. Edberg

United States Public Health Resources

The antigenic relatedness of Escherichia coli 0157 and four sorbitol-negative species of the genus Escherichia was examined. Isolates of Escherichia hermannii, E. fergusonii, E. vulneris, and E. blattae were tested in the tube agglutination assay by using polyclonal antisera and in the slide agglutination assay by using latex reagents. Only four isolates (17%) of E. hermannii exhibited serological cross-reactivity.