PubMed · 610456
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C H Miller. 1977. Commitment to care.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/610456/
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In Montgomery County (1990 population: 209,085), Alabama, an epidemic of early syphilis (ES) (i.e., primary, secondary, and early latent) involving 1010 cases occurred from August 1990 through November 1991 (Figure 1). From June 17 through November 7, 1991, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and CDC initiated an intervention campaign to reduce the incidence of ES; the intervention increased case-finding primarily through partner notification (PN) and cluster investigations.* This report assesses the intervention campaign by describing 1) the results of PN/cluster investigation interviews during the intervention, 2) the relation between reported crack cocaine use and PN/cluster investigation results, 3) a comparison of interview results for the first 6 weeks of the campaign (i.e., early campaign period) with the 6-week period immediately before the campaign (i.e., precampaign period), and 4) the syphilis morbidity trends for 1990 and 1991.
In March 1991, the Alabama Department of Public Health lead surveillance program received a report from a participating laboratory of an elevated blood lead level (BLL) in an employee of a company engaged in a battery-breaking operation. The health department referred the case to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which initiated an investigation of company medical-monitoring records and identified 13 workers with elevated BLLs. In May 1991, OSHA requested technical assistance from CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to evaluate the workers for lead intoxication. This report summarizes the findings of the investigation.
Seven species of mites were recovered from 133 Brazilian free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, and 94 big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus, from February through November 1990 in colonies that shared roosting space in east-central Alabama. The macronyssid Chiroptonyssus robustipes (Ewing) was the most common mite on T. brasiliensis (964 mites, 87% of bats infested) and on E. fuscus (109 mites, 29% of bats infested). However, C. rubustipes normally is a specific parasite of T. brasiliensis. The macronyssids Steatonyssus ceratognathus (Ewing) and S. occidentalis (Ewing) were recovered from both species of bats in low numbers. S. ceratognathus is not a typical parasite of either species of bat, but S. occidentalis normally is specific to E. fuscus. Predictably, S. occidentalis was most frequently collected from E. fuscus (16 mites, 9% of bats infested), but two specimens were recovered from T. brasiliensis. Five specimens of the laelapid Androlaelaps casalis (Berlese) (a mite that is frequently associated with rodents) and one specimen of the myobiid mite Ewingana (Doreyana) longa (Ewing) (a specific ectoparasite of T. brasiliensis) were also recovered from T. brasiliensis. Singletons of the rosensteiniids Mydopholeus sp. and Nycteriglyphites pennsylvanicus Fain, Lukoschus & Whitaker were the only additional mites collected from E. fuscus; both of these mites have previously been collected from bats or their guano but are recorded here from Alabama for the first time. With respect to ectoparasite cross-infestations, E. fuscus appears to be at greater risk from sharing roots with T. brasiliensis. This is highlighted by the comparatively large numbers of C. robustipes that occurred on E. fuscus and the low numbers of S. occidentalis on T. brasiliensis. Although mites were the only arthropods recovered from bats in this study, a separate survey in 1991 revealed that the bat bug Cimex adjunctus Barber infested some other colonies of T. brasiliensis and E. fuscus in Alabama.