Superbug Enzyme in Britain

Via an unnamed source: the BBC reports on a new "superbug" in the UK, a shared antibiotic-eating enzyme imported from India.

The enzyme, called New Delhi Metallo-1, has so far been found attached to bacteria that has caused urinary tract infections and respiratory infections.
It is of particular concern because it can jump from one strain of bacteria to another meaning it could attach itself to more dangerous infections that can cause severe illnesses and blood poisoning making them almost impossible to treat.
The NDM-1 enzyme destroys a group of antibiotics called carbapenems which are mainly used in Britain for severe infections and are tightly controlled because they are one of the few groups of antibiotics that remain useful against bacteria that have already developed resistance to the commonly used drugs.

Flu Ship

On the Typhoid Traveller front, via an unnamed source, the BBC reported on Friday that large numbers of crew on a cruise ship in the south of France were suffering from a flu-like illness.

It has now gone on to Marseille. The authorities there say neither passengers nor crew will be allowed to disembark until further tests have been carried out on their health.
"Based on the results, a decision will be made on whether or not passengers can disembark," a statement from the local prefecture, or local government, said.

Scabies at Logan

Via an unnamed source: WBZ TV reports on a small scabies outbreak among TSA workers at Logan Airport in Boston.

TSA officials say all their workers wear gloves so the public should not be concerned about getting scabies.
It is still unclear how the employees got scabies in the first place.
According to the CDC, scabies is caused by an infestation of the skin by human itch mites that burrow under the skin and lay eggs.

It's unclear to PlagueBlog how the gloves that failed to protect the TSA workers are supposed to have protected the public.

Marburg Death in the Netherlands

Via ProMED-mail: the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reports a Marburg death in Leiden, the Netherlands, of a woman who had recently visited the Maramagambo forest in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.

The patient died on July, 11.
ECDC’s initial assessment is that the threat to public health is limited and mainly focussed on the people who have been in close contact with the patient after the onset of her symptoms. People intending to travel to Uganda should be aware there may be a risk related to visiting caves in the Maramagambo forest.

PlagueBlog recommends New England as a safer travel destination than Uganda--as long as you keep out of the Muddy River.

Another Typhoid Traveller

Via ProMED-mail: The Sydney Morning Herald reports on Australia's first polio case in 21 years, imported from Pakistan by plane:

A 22-year-old man carrying the disease was in isolation in a Melbourne hospital last night and health authorities were trying to track down the 249 passengers who shared his July 2 Thai Airlines flight from Bangkok to Melbourne.
Those on flight TG999 were urged to contact the health information hotline on 1800 004 599, which is open between 8.30am and 10pm.

The Typhoid Traveller

Pretty much everyone, including The New York Times, reports on the travelling tuberculosis patient who may have infected two intercontinental flights full of people before being picked up sneaking home from Montreal and quarantined by the CDC--reportedly the first person to be subject to a federal isolation order since a smallpox patient was quarantined in 1963.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interview with the Typhoid Traveller in which he tells his side of the story of his ill-fated honeymoon:

Katkowsky and CDC officials say they only knew that the man's TB was resistant to many drugs before he left, but that the tests showing he had the most serious form of TB — XDR TB — only came back after he was in Europe. The test results came back on May 21, Fulton County officials said.
The man says he and his bride were in Rome on their honeymoon when they got a message to call the CDC. The CDC official said that they needed to cancel their trip and return home and that the CDC would call the next day with travel information.
The patient says he and his wife canceled plans to move on to Florence the next day as they awaited the CDC's instructions.
The next day, instead of giving the couple travel arrangements, the man said a CDC staff member told him he'd need to turn himself into Italian health authorities the next morning and agree to go into isolation and treatment in that country for an indefinite period of time.
"I thought to myself: 'You're nuts.' I wasn't going to do that. They told me I had been put on the no-fly list and my passport was flagged," the man said.
The man said the CDC told him he could not fly aboard a commercial airliner with his disease. "We asked about the CDC jet and they said no, there wasn't funding in the budget to use the jet," he said.