Imported Swine Count, January 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, February 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, March 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, April 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, May 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, June 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, July 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, August 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, September 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, October 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, November 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

Imported Swine Count, December 2015

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.

The NLRP3 inflammasome is differentially activated by pneumolysin variants and contributes to host defense in pneumococcal pneumonia.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. Pneumococci can be divided into >90 serotypes that show differences in the pathogenicity and invasiveness. We tested the hypotheses that the innate immune inflammasome pathway is involved in fighting pneumococcal pneumonia and that some invasive pneumococcal types are not recognized by this pathway. We show that human and murine mononuclear cells responded to S. pneumoniae expressing hemolytic pneumolysin by producing IL-1β. This IL-1β production depended on the NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome. Some serotype 1, serotype 8, and serotype 7F bacteria, which have previously been associated with increased invasiveness and with production of toxins with reduced hemolytic activity, or bacterial mutants lacking pneumolysin did not stimulate notable IL-1β production. We further found that NLRP3 was beneficial for mice during pneumonia caused by pneumococci expressing hemolytic pneumolysin and was involved in cytokine production and maintenance of the pulmonary microvascular barrier. Overall, the inflammasome pathway is protective in pneumonia caused by pneumococci expressing hemolytic toxin but is not activated by clinically important pneumococcal sequence types causing invasive disease. The study indicates that a virulence factor polymorphism may substantially affect the recognition of bacteria by the innate immune system.

Molecular evidence of interhuman transmission of Pneumocystis pneumonia among renal transplant recipients hospitalized with HIV-infected patients.

Ten Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) cases were diagnosed in renal transplant recipients (RTRs) during a 3-year period. Nosocomial transmission from HIV-positive patients with PCP was suspected because these patients shared the same hospital building, were not isolated, and were receiving suboptimal anti-PCP prophylaxis or none. P. jirovecii organisms were typed with the multitarget polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism method. Among the 45 patients with PCP hospitalized during the 3-year period, 8 RTRs and 6 HIV-infected patients may have encountered at least 1 patient with active PCP within the 3 months before the diagnosis of their own PCP episode. In six instances (five RTRs, one HIV-infected patient), the patients harbored the same P. jirovecii molecular type as that found in the encountered PCP patients. The data suggest that part of the PCP cases observed in this building, particularly those observed in RTRs, were related to nosocomial interhuman transmission.

Imported Swine Count, January 2016

The imported swine court report monthly by the Department of Agricultural.