In the Press

Improved monitoring tools are important for the control of Campylobacter bacteria in broiler production. In this study, we compare the sensitivities of detection of Campylobacter by PCR with feces, dust, and air samples during the lifetimes of broilers in two poultry houses and conclude that the sensitivity of detection of Campylobacter in air is comparable to that in other sample materials.

University of Liverpool scientists have taken a significant step towards unlocking the medical potential of a new class of potent antibiotic capable of killing "superbugs" including MRSA without detectable resistance.

Objectives  To quantitatively investigate the existence of airborne methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a hospital environment and to perform phenotyping and genotyping of MRSA isolates to study MRSA epidemiology.

With cases in China at their highest level in 2 years due to the more transmissible Omicron COVID-19 variant, officials in China's biggest city, Shanghai, yesterday announced a two-part lockdown to do mass testing.

Minnesota reported its first highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks, affecting flocks in three counties, as three more states—Colorado, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania—reported their first detections in waterfowl.

As Americans cross their fingers, hoping the pandemic stays behind them, scientists across the country remain focused on the novel coronavirus, intent on combating its next move.

Vancomycin-sensitive and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VSE and VRE) species have become a significant health problem. CHROMagar medium, which permits direct, color-based identification of target pathogens, could potentially be used to rapidly monitor airborne VSE and VRE. In this study, the efficiency of CHROMagar VRE medium without vancomycin supplementation (CVSE) for collecting airborne vancomycin-sensitive Enterococcus faecalis was evaluated in a chamber study.

Adult COVID-19 patients also infected with the flu are four times more likely to require mechanical ventilation and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they had COVID-19 alone, finds a UK study published late last week in The Lancet.

Experts at Indiana University School of Medicine have helped identify that a common protein found in neurodegenerative diseases forms amyloid filaments in an age-dependent manner without a connection to disease.

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged to become a predominant cause of nosocomial infections in the United States and across the globe. During the past decade, the remarkable increase in the proportion of A. baumannii strains that are carbapenem resistant has ushered in an era of far more lethal infections. In a recent study of 13,796 patients in 1,265 ICUs from 75 countries, A. baumannii was one of only two of 19 organisms studied that were strongly linked to increased hospital mortality by multivariate analysis (1).