Malaria and global warming in perspective?

Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 6, No. 4, July–August 2000 438 Salmonella infections acquired in other countries are frequently diagnosed in travelers recently returned to the United States. Although transmission of these infections to other humans may be rare in the United States, human-to-bovine transmission may occur regularly: thousands of cases of bovine Taenia saginata cysticercosis occurred immediately before and during the dissemination of MRDT104. As humans are the only definitive host of the T. saginata tapeworm, these cases confirm the large-scale occurrence of human-toanimal transmission of enteropathogenic agents in the United States. Since transmission of S. Typhimurium from herd to herd is common in the United States, increased emphasis on Salmonella infection control may be an effective method for reducing dissemination of organisms such as MR-DT104. With or without imposition of stringent controls on antibiotic use in the United States and Europe, the future genetic emergence of new epidemic clones of S. Typhimurium somewhere in the world is highly likely, and controlling the dissemination of epidemic clones is essential to avoid increasing problems with multidrug resistance. Certainly we do not disagree with the concept of reducing antimicrobial use, particularly such frivolous use as in calf milk replacers. However, we urge public health officials to consider that infection control is as central to control of agents such as MRDT104 as it is for epidemic MRSA.