Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 65 in total

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  1. Fornace KM, Abidin TR, Alexander N, Brock P, Grigg MJ, Murphy A, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2016 Feb;22(2):201-8.
    PMID: 26812373 DOI: 10.3201/eid2202.150656
    The zoonotic malaria species Plasmodium knowlesi has become the main cause of human malaria in Malaysian Borneo. Deforestation and associated environmental and population changes have been hypothesized as main drivers of this apparent emergence. We gathered village-level data for P. knowlesi incidence for the districts of Kudat and Kota Marudu in Sabah state, Malaysia, for 2008-2012. We adjusted malaria records from routine reporting systems to reflect the diagnostic uncertainty of microscopy for P. knowlesi. We also developed negative binomial spatial autoregressive models to assess potential associations between P. knowlesi incidence and environmental variables derived from satellite-based remote-sensing data. Marked spatial heterogeneity in P. knowlesi incidence was observed, and village-level numbers of P. knowlesi cases were positively associated with forest cover and historical forest loss in surrounding areas. These results suggest the likelihood that deforestation and associated environmental changes are key drivers in P. knowlesi transmission in these areas.
  2. Clayton BA, Middleton D, Bergfeld J, Haining J, Arkinstall R, Wang L, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2012 Dec;18(12):1983-93.
    PMID: 23171621 DOI: 10.3201/eid1812.120875
    Human infections with Nipah virus in Malaysia and Bangladesh are associated with markedly different patterns of transmission and pathogenicity. To compare the 2 strains, we conducted an in vivo study in which 2 groups of ferrets were oronasally exposed to either the Malaysia or Bangladesh strain of Nipah virus. Viral shedding and tissue tropism were compared between the 2 groups. Over the course of infection, significantly higher levels of viral RNA were recovered from oral secretions of ferrets infected with the Bangladesh strain. Higher levels of oral shedding of the Bangladesh strain of Nipah virus might be a key factor in onward transmission in outbreaks among humans.
  3. Palya V, Kovács EW, Marton S, Tatár-Kis T, Felföldi B, Forró B, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2019 06;25(6):1110-1117.
    PMID: 31107212 DOI: 10.3201/eid2506.181661
    During 2014-2017, we isolated a novel orthobunyavirus from broiler chickens with severe kidney lesions in the state of Kedah, Malaysia; we named the virus Kedah fatal kidney syndrome virus (KFKSV). Affected chickens became listless and diarrheic before dying suddenly. Necropsies detected pale and swollen kidneys with signs of gout, enlarged and fragile livers, and pale hearts. Experimental infection of broiler chickens with KFKSV reproduced the disease and pathologic conditions observed in the field, fulfilling the Koch's postulates. Gene sequencing indicated high nucleotide identities between KFKSV isolates (99%) and moderate nucleotide identities with the orthobunyavirus Umbre virus in the large (78%), medium (77%), and small (86%) genomic segments. KFKSV may be pathogenic for other host species, including humans.
  4. Yob JM, Field H, Rashdi AM, Morrissy C, van der Heide B, Rota P, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2001 May-Jun;7(3):439-41.
    PMID: 11384522
    Nipah virus, family Paramyxoviridae, caused disease in pigs and humans in peninsular Malaysia in 1998-99. Because Nipah virus appears closely related to Hendra virus, wildlife surveillance focused primarily on pteropid bats (suborder Megachiroptera), a natural host of Hendra virus in Australia. We collected 324 bats from 14 species on peninsular Malaysia. Neutralizing antibodies to Nipah virus were demonstrated in five species, suggesting widespread infection in bat populations in peninsular Malaysia.
  5. Yusof R, Ahmed MA, Jelip J, Ngian HU, Mustakim S, Hussin HM, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2016 08;22(8):1371-80.
    PMID: 27433965 DOI: 10.3201/eid2208.151885
    Infections of humans with the zoonotic simian malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi occur throughout Southeast Asia, although most cases have occurred in Malaysia, where P. knowlesi is now the dominant malaria species. This apparently skewed distribution prompted an investigation of the phylogeography of this parasite in 2 geographically separated regions of Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. We investigated samples collected from humans and macaques in these regions. Haplotype network analyses of sequences from 2 P. knowlesi genes, type A small subunit ribosomal 18S RNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, showed 2 genetically distinct divergent clusters, 1 from each of the 2 regions of Malaysia. We propose that these parasites represent 2 distinct P. knowlesi types that independently became zoonotic. These types would have evolved after the sea-level rise at the end of the last ice age, which separated Malaysian Borneo from Peninsular Malaysia.
  6. Tappe D, Nachtigall S, Kapaun A, Schnitzler P, Günther S, Schmidt-Chanasit J
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2015 May;21(5): 911–3.
    PMID: 25898277 DOI: 10.3201/eid2105.141960
  7. Cardosa MJ, Perera D, Brown BA, Cheon D, Chan HM, Chan KP, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2003 Apr;9(4):461-8.
    PMID: 12702227
    This study provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular epidemiology of human enterovirus 71 (HEV71) in the Asia-Pacific region from 1997 through 2002. Phylogenetic analysis of the VP4 and VP1 genes of recent HEV71 strains indicates that several genogroups of the virus have been circulating in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997. The first of these recent outbreaks, described in Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) in 1997, was caused by genogroup B3. This outbreak was followed by large outbreaks in Taiwan in 1998, caused by genogroup C2, and in Perth (Western Australia) in 1999, where viruses belonging to genogroups B3 and C2 cocirculated. Singapore, Taiwan, and Sarawak had HEV71 epidemics in 2000, caused predominantly by viruses belonging to genogroup B4; however, large numbers of fatalities were observed only in Taiwan. HEV71 was identified during an epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease in Korea; that epidemic was found to be due to viruses constituting a new genogroup, C3.
  8. Scherret JH, Poidinger M, Mackenzie JS, Broom AK, Deubel V, Lipkin WI, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2001 Jul-Aug;7(4):697-705.
    PMID: 11585535
    Until recently, West Nile (WN) and Kunjin (KUN) viruses were classified as distinct types in the Flavivirus genus. However, genetic and antigenic studies on isolates of these two viruses indicate that the relationship between them is more complex. To better define this relationship, we performed sequence analyses on 32 isolates of KUN virus and 28 isolates of WN virus from different geographic areas, including a WN isolate from the recent outbreak in New York. Sequence comparisons showed that the KUN virus isolates from Australia were tightly grouped but that the WN virus isolates exhibited substantial divergence and could be differentiated into four distinct groups. KUN virus isolates from Australia were antigenically homologous and distinct from the WN isolates and a Malaysian KUN virus. Our results suggest that KUN and WN viruses comprise a group of closely related viruses that can be differentiated into subgroups on the basis of genetic and antigenic analyses.
  9. Muhammad Ismail HI, Tan KK, Lee YL, Pau WS, Razali KA, Mohamed T, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2011 Apr;17(4):708-10.
    PMID: 21470467 DOI: 10.3201/eid1704.101212
    To determine effects of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 on children in the tropics, we examined characteristics of children hospitalized for this disease in Malaysia. Of 1,362 children, 51 (3.7%) died, 46 of whom were in an intensive care unit. Although disease was usually mild, ≥ 1 concurrent conditions were associated with higher death rates.
  10. Rahman SA, Hassan SS, Olival KJ, Mohamed M, Chang LY, Hassan L, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2010 Dec;16(12):1990-3.
    PMID: 21122240 DOI: 10.3201/eid1612.091790
    We isolated and characterized Nipah virus (NiV) from Pteropus vampyrus bats, the putative reservoir for the 1998 outbreak in Malaysia, and provide evidence of viral recrudescence. This isolate is monophyletic with previous NiVs in combined analysis, and the nucleocapsid gene phylogeny species.
  11. Teoh BT, Sam SS, Abd-Jamil J, AbuBakar S
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2010 Nov;16(11):1783-5.
    PMID: 21029545 DOI: 10.3201/eid1611.100721
    Ancestral sylvatic dengue virus type 1, which was isolated from a monkey in 1972, was isolated from a patient with dengue fever in Malaysia. The virus is neutralized by serum of patients with endemic DENV-1 infection. Rare isolation of this virus suggests a limited spillover infection from an otherwise restricted sylvatic cycle.
  12. William T, Menon J, Rajahram G, Chan L, Ma G, Donaldson S, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2011 Jul;17(7):1248-55.
    PMID: 21762579 DOI: 10.3201/eid1707.101017
    The simian parasite Plasmodium knowlesi causes severe human malaria; the optimal treatment remains unknown. We describe the clinical features, disease spectrum, and response to antimalarial chemotherapy, including artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate, in patients with P. knowlesi malaria diagnosed by PCR during December 2007-November 2009 at a tertiary care hospital in Sabah, Malaysia. Fifty-six patients had PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi monoinfection and clinical records available for review. Twenty-two (39%) had severe malaria; of these, 6 (27%) died. Thirteen (59%) had respiratory distress; 12 (55%), acute renal failure; and 12, shock. None experienced coma. Patients with uncomplicated disease received chloroquine, quinine, or artemether-lumefantrine, and those with severe disease received intravenous quinine or artesunate. Parasite clearance times were 1-2 days shorter with either artemether-lumefantrine or artesunate treatment. P. knowlesi is a major cause of severe and fatal malaria in Sabah. Artemisinin derivatives rapidly clear parasitemia and are efficacious in treating uncomplicated and severe knowlesi malaria.
  13. Barber BE, William T, Jikal M, Jilip J, Dhararaj P, Menon J, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2011 May;17(5):814-20.
    PMID: 21529389 DOI: 10.3201/eid1705.101489
    Plasmodium knowlesi can cause severe malaria in adults; however, descriptions of clinical disease in children are lacking. We reviewed case records of children (age <15 years) with a malaria diagnosis at Kudat District Hospital, serving a largely deforested area of Sabah, Malaysia, during January-November 2009. Sixteen children with PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi monoinfection were compared with 14 children with P. falciparum monoinfection diagnosed by microscopy or PCR. Four children with knowlesi malaria had a hemoglobin level at admission of <10.0 g/dL (minimum lowest level 6.4 g/dL). Minimum level platelet counts were lower in knowlesi than in falciparum malaria (median 76,500/μL vs. 156,000/mL; p = 0.01). Most (81%) children with P. knowlesi malaria received chloroquine and primaquine; median parasite clearance time was 2 days (range 1-5 days). P. knowlesi is the most common cause of childhood malaria in Kudat. Although infection is generally uncomplicated, anemia is common and thrombocytopenia universal. Transmission dynamics in this region require additional investigation.
  14. Pulliam JR, Field HE, Olival KJ, Henipavirus Ecology Research Group
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2005 Dec;11(12):1978-9; author reply 1979.
    PMID: 16485499
  15. Harcourt BH, Lowe L, Tamin A, Liu X, Bankamp B, Bowden N, et al.
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2005 Oct;11(10):1594-7.
    PMID: 16318702
    Until 2004, identification of Nipah virus (NV)-like outbreaks in Bangladesh was based on serology. We describe the genetic characterization of a new strain of NV isolated during outbreaks in Bangladesh (NV-B) in 2004, which confirms that NV was the etiologic agent responsible for these outbreaks.
  16. Chua PK, Corkill JE, Hooi PS, Cheng SC, Winstanley C, Hart CA
    Emerg Infect Dis, 2005 Feb;11(2):271-7.
    PMID: 15752446
    An obligate intracellular bacterium was isolated from urine samples from 7 (3.5%) of 202 fruit bats (Eonycteris spelaea) in peninsular Malaysia. The bacterium produced large membrane-bound inclusions in human, simian, and rodent cell lines, including epithelial, fibroblastlike, and lymphoid cells. Thin-section electron microscopy showed reticulate bodies dividing by binary fission and elementary bodies in the inclusions; mitochondria surrounded the inclusions. The inclusions were positive for periodic acid-Schiff stain but could not be stained by fluorescein-labeled anti-Chlamydia trachomatis major outer membrane protein monoclonal antibody. The bacterium was resistant to penicillin and streptomycin (MICs > 256 mg/L) but susceptible to tetracycline (MIC = 0.25 mg/L) and chloramphenicol (MIC = 0.5 mg/L). Sequence analysis of the 16SrRNA gene indicated that it was most closely related to 2 isolates of Waddlia chondrophila (94% and 96% identity). The 16S and 23S rRNA gene signatures were only 91% identical. We propose this novel bacterium be called W. malaysiensis.
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