First CWD case in Montana's Ruby Mountains detected in elk

News brief

An elk in Montana's Ruby Mountains has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a first for Hunting District 322, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reports.

In a news release, the agency said a hunter harvested the elk next to the lower Ruby Valley, which has a high prevalence of the fatal prion disease in white-tailed deer and mule deer. The Ruby Mountains are located between Madison and Beaverhead counties in the southwest part of the state.

"While this is the first time CWD has been detected in elk in the Ruby Mountains, it was expected to eventually occur given the presence of the disease among deer populations that use the same habitats," the release said. "It's unlikely this detection will result in changes to elk hunting regulations in this area, which already has liberal harvest regulations for elk."

Proper carcass disposal urged

The agency urged hunters to help slow the spread of CWD by disposing of animal carcasses after harvesting the meat by leaving the remains at the kill site or bagging it and taking it to a Class 2 landfill.

It's unlikely this detection will result in changes to elk hunting regulations in this area, which already has liberal harvest regulations for elk.

First detected in Montana's wild herds in 2017, CWD is a neurologic disease caused by misfolded infectious proteins called prions. The disease affects cervids such as deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. Prions are extremely resilient and can persist in the environment for years. The disease isn't known to infect humans, but officials recommend not eating meat from a sick animal and using precautions when field-dressing or butchering cervids.

Four cases of sexually transmitted fungal infection reported in New York

News brief

Chris Dall, MA

A paper published last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report describes four US cases of an emerging, sexually transmitted fungal infection.

The infections were caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII (TMVII), a sexually transmitted fungus that causes genital tinea (ringworm). TMVII infections have previously been reported in patients who had contact with sex workers in Southeast Asia and men who have sex with men (MSM) in France. The first US case was reported in June in a man who reported sexual contact with multiple men while traveling in Europe and California.

The four case-patients were diagnosed with tinea between April and July, and fungal cultures and DNA sequencing identified TMVII as the cause of the infection. All four patients were men aged 30 to 39 years from New York City who reported recent sexual contact with other men; one was a sex worker, two had sex with each other, and one reported recent travel to Europe. All presented with rashes on the face, buttocks, or genitals and were successfully treated with antifungals.

The authors of the report, including clinicians from Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York University Grossman School of Medicine, say healthcare providers should be aware that TMVII can spread through sexual contact and cause lesions in the genitals, buttocks, face, trunk, or extremities and should advise patients with TMVII infection about the importance of avoiding skin-to-skin contact with the affected areas.

"Public health surveillance, health care provider and patient education and awareness, and increased access to dermatophyte identification and antifungal susceptibility testing could help detect, monitor, and prevent the spread of TMVII," they wrote.

Quick takes: RSV vaccine access in the Americas, polio in Gaza, malaria vaccine in Sudan

News brief

Chris Dall, MA

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced last week that it will provide countries in the Region of the Americas with affordable access to the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. PAHO said that around 13 million children are born in the region each year who could benefit from the World Health Organization (WHO)-approved vaccine, which is recommended for pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of gestation by PAHO's Technical Advisory Group. Countries in the region that request the vaccine will be able to access it through PAHO next year.
The United Nations (UN) reports that Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza over the weekend hit a polio vaccine center, injuring six people, including four children. The air strikes occurred as UN agencies and partners are working to ensure that 100,000 children receive their final dose of the polio vaccine. The vaccination campaign in Gaza began following the detection of a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 case in a child and positive findings from environmental samples. More than 58,600 children in Gaza received a second vaccine dose on November 2, according to UNICEF officials.
Sudan today became the latest country in Africa, and the first in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Regions, to introduce the malaria vaccine, according to media reports and a post on the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter). China's Xinhua news agency reports that the Sudanese Health Ministry launched the integration of the vaccine into routine childhood vaccinations in Gedaref State and Blue Nile State in southern Sudan. Sudanese Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said Sudan records 2 to 3 million malaria cases annually.