Salmonella: Drug-Resistant Strain of Bacteria Gains in Africa, With High Death Rates

NY Times ^ | December 1, 2009 | DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

[neverdem]

Global Update

A new drug-resistant strain of bacteria has emerged in the last decade in Africa and is causing unusual numbers of deaths there, British and African researchers said on Monday.

The strain, a variant of Salmonella typhimurium, is named ST313. Its genome was decoded by researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and researchers in Kenya and Malawi.

While most salmonella bacteria cause diarrhea and are rarely fatal, this one causes death in one of four cases among children and vulnerable adults in some African regions, the researchers said. Many of its victims have been weakened by the AIDS virus, anemia, malaria or malnutrition.

Salmonella normally circulates in animals and reaches humans via food poisoning. (Consumer Reports said Monday that two-thirds of the chickens it had tested had campylobacter or salmonella, though not of this new strain.)

[neverdem]

Epidemic multiple drug resistant Salmonella Typhimurium causing invasive disease in sub-Saharan Africa have a distinct genotype

[April Lexington]

AIDS, Ebola, Barack Obama, now this crap.... WHAT IS IT with Africa?

[neverdem]

micro ping

[goseminoles]

Africa=dirty

[Niuhuru]

I have no idea. I really don’t. It’s like Africa, with so many resources and potential, are utterly cursed.

[goodnesswins]

Where tyrants rule, freedom (and the good life) die....

[Niuhuru]

I remember that the CHinese go by the concept of Mandate of Heaven. Africa, so far, has failed to get one.

[vetvetdoug]

Typhoid is a symptom of poor food and water handling and personal hygiene. There has to be a carrier also since the bacterium has a tendency to colonize the gall bladder of those asymptomatic or that have survived the disease. The disease is dangerous enough alone, coupled with immunosuppression it makes it lethal. I'm more concerned with a viral outbreak from a Morbillivirus or a variant of it.