Highest rates of Tick-borne encephalitis in Central Europe are reported in Slovenia and the Czech Republic. Rates in Austria are similar to most other countries in the area. Most cases are encountered in Vienna, Upper and Lower Austria, Burgenland, Styria, Carinthia and northern Salzburg province - with highest rates in Karnten and Steiermark.
- During 2005 to 2006, TBE emerged in the upstream valleys of Inn and Isel, and in Ziller valley and Voralberg (Feldkirch region).
- During the pre-vaccination era, Austria had the highest incidence of TBE in Europe, with up to 700 hospitalized cases annually. TBE accounted for over 50% of all viral meningoencephalitis cases in the eastern and southern regions of the country.
- 139 cases were reported among children in Styria during 1980 to 2003 7 ; 116 during 1981 to 2005
- No fatal cases were reported in 1989; 0 in 1991; 1 in 1992; 2 in 1993
- 66 cases were reported in Tyrol during 2000 to 2006.

A mass vaccination campaign was instituted in 1981.
- Vaccine coverage was 14% in 1995, 86% in 2003, and 88% in 2006.
- It has been estimated that 2,800 cases were prevented by vaccination during 2000 to 2006.

Prevalence surveys:
0.44% of ticks in the area of Styria

Exported cases:
- A Dutch traveler acquired Tick-borne encephalitis in Austria (1996 publication)
- A Japanese tourist acquired tick-borne encephalitis (fatal) in Austria (2008 publication)

GIDEON was quoted in a recent ProMED post related to a case of unknown hemorrhagic disease in China:

Background information on HGA in China is available on the Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON) website.

Seropositive ruminants have been documented in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region area. (see ref 1 below)
- Seropositive rodents have been documented in Jilin Province: Japanese field mouse (_Apodemus peninsulae_), Black-striped field mouse (_A. agrarius_) and Siberian chipmunk (_Tamias sibiricu_). (see
ref 2 below)
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A variety of spotted fever group Rickettsiae are reported in Spain.

The incidence of Mediterranean spotted fever cases has decreased in recent years, from 870 cases in 1989, to 234 in 2003. 77.76% of cases are reported from Andalucia, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y Leon and Cataluna, with most occurring during July through October. 38 fatal cases were reported during 1980 to 1994.

Seroprevalence surveys:
8% of healthy persons and 26.1% of dogs in Catalonia - highest rates in seimrural areas (1997)
8.7% of persons in southern Spain (2002)
3.4% of persons in southern Spain (Bar29 infection, 2006 publication)
3.7% of persons in Catalonia (Rickettsia slovaka, 2008 publication)
56.4% of dogs in northeastern Spain (2006 publication)
24.6% of dogs in Ourense and Pontevedra (northwestern Spain, 2008 publication)
44% of cats in northeastern Spain (2006 publication)

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In an undiagnosed case of hemorrhagic disease in China, Marjorie Pollack, a ProMED editor, used GIDEON to help figure out the differential diagnosis. From the ProMED note:

Using the database of the Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON ) to see possible etiologies for a hemorrhagic fever syndrome in China, the most likely diagnosis would be Old World hantavirus infection (57 percent probability), followed by _Streptococcus suis_ infection (40 percent), leptospirosis (1.8 percent) and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF — less than one percent probability).

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Recent reports of La Crosse encephalitis in North Carolina remind us that a number of severe arthropod-borne infections continue to appear each year in the United States. For almost four decades, California encephalitis has been the most commonly-reported disease in this group ; however, since 2000, Read the rest of this entry »

An ongoing outbreak in Denmark belies the fact that salmonellosis rates in Scandinavia have remained fairly constant during the past decade. In the attached graph rates for the United States are added for comparison. Some additional background data on salmonellosis in Denmark – source www.GideonOnline.com Read the rest of this entry »

A recent outbreak of suspected salmonellosis among British travelers at a hotel in Italy highlights the risk for such infections among tourists, expatriates and similar groups in transit through foreign countries. The following chronology of similar episodes is abstracted from GIDEON:

1976 - An outbreak (550 cases) of Salmonella typhimurium infection affecting 4 international air flights (Las Palmas-Helsinki, Las Palmas-Honover) was caused by contaminated mayonnaise prepared in Spain.
1985 - An outbreak (168 cases) of Salmonella minnesota infection was reported at a Filipino workers’ camp in Saudi Arabia. Read the rest of this entry »

Rickettsial spotted fever was first reported in Brazil in 1920.

The disease is known locally as ‘Brazilian spotted fever’ and ‘Febre maculosa brasileira’

Cases are reported in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Goias, Rio Grande do Sul and Espirito Santo.

Seroprevalence surveys:
10.6% of healthy students and 4.11% of dogs in the endemic areas of Minas Gerais (1998)
77.3% of horses and 31.3% of dogs in Pedreira Municipality, Sao Paulo State (2001)
1.6% of healthy persons in Minas Gerais (2005 publication)
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LOS ANGELES, CA–(June 12, 2008) - More than one million cases of foodborne salmonella are reported each year, accounting for 9.7 percent of all foodborne illnesses and 30.6 percent of all food-related deaths, according to GIDEON Online, an online database of infectious disease information for medical professionals.

Specifically, foodborne salmonella resulted in 15,600 hospitalizations and 550 deaths, over the last year.

For more information on salmonella, Dr. Stephen Berger, MD, infectious disease expert, is available for interviews. Dr. Berger, cofounder and Medical Advisor for GIDEON, has published more than 180 articles and books, including “Introduction to Infectious Diseases” and “The Healthy Tourist.” He is currently affiliated with the Tel Aviv Medical Center as Director of both Geographic Medicine and of Clinical Microbiology.

For more media information, contact:
Lisa Hendrickson
LCH Communications
516-643-1642
lisa@lchcommunications.com

The following background information on Trypanosomiasis in Angola is abstracted from GIDEON:

Trypanosomiasis was first identified in Angola in 1871, in the Quixama region (Kwanza River area, south of Luanda).

A resurgence of disease rates during the 1980’s does not represent a general phenomenon for Africa, and appears to be related to civil unrest in the country. See graph

Trypanosomiasis is endemic to 7 of the country’s 18 provinces.
- Risk areas include the northern provinces of Bengo, Kwanza north and Kwanza south, Luanda, Malange, Uige, and Zaire.
- Widespread disease in the southern provinces of Kunene, Huambo, Namibe, and Huila was first reported in 2003.
- 2.5 to 4 million persons are considered at risk in 6,000 villages north of the Kuanza River.

Trypanosoma brucei gambiense predominates (mostly in the northwestern region - Zaire, Uige, Luanda and Cuenza Norte).
- Sporadic disease due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense is also reported.

Tsetse flies are present in 14 of Angola’s 18 provinces.
- The local vectors are Glossina palpalis (found in Zaire, Bengo, Kwanza Norte, Kwanza Sul and Cuando Cubango), G. fuscipes ssp. quanzensis and martinii (found in Uige, Malanje, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul), and G. morsitans (found in Malanje, Kwanza Sul, Bia, Moxico and Cuando Cubango).

Quoted in ProMED

Steve will be presenting at the University of Chicago Medical Center this coming Monday. This would be a terrific opportunity to see a live demonstration of GIDEON. If you can’t make it, then you can always watch the online videos.

Title: GIDEON: A Global Web-based Program for Decision Support and Informatics in Infectious Diseases
Presenter: Dr. Steve Berger, Chief Medical Advisor, GIDEON Informatics
Date: Monday, May 19, 2008
Time: 2pm to 3pm
Location: Room W-632, University of Chicago Medical Center (6th floor)
5812 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637
Enter from the Surgery - Brain Research Pavilion
Maps are available near each elevator
Host: Dr. Younghee Lee

Dr. Steve Berger, GIDEON’s Chief Medical Advisor, is quoted in the article “Is Your Keyboard Making You Sick?” in the US News and World Report:

“The bottom line is it’s actually nothing to worry about,” says Steve Berger, director of microbiology and tropical medicine at the Tel Aviv Medical Center. “We’re living in a sea of bacteria. The germs that you’re dealing with are normal bacteria, and nobody’s going to catch anthrax or Ebola or anything from a keyboard.”