This new case report describes a teenage boy diagnosed with an acute-onset schizophrenia-like psychotic illness (aka PANS, Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome), who was found to have an infection with Bartonella henselae (by PCR and serology). He had failed numerous treatments regimes over almost 2 years, and finally was treated for bartonellosis with appropriate targeted antibiotics – and he got better!

The case has gotten some press, from the NCSU CVM homepage to gizmodo and lots of places in between (even a podcast!).

The case report was published in the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease, and can be found open access linked here.

The CVM at NCSU has started a new group of faculty, staff, and students focused on education in the veterinary medical profession: the Academy of Educators. They have a website with mission statement and membership details, as well as a calendar of events, news, and research from members.

The website and more info on the AoE can be found here: https://academyofeducators.wordpress.ncsu.edu/

Dr. Breitschwerdt and the IPRL, along with a Canadian collaborator, recently released a new paper describing Bartonella infection in multiple members of a family (including their cat!) in Canada.

Published Online: 27 Dec 2018

In this study, individual case histories are reported for a family residing in Quebec, Canada, in conjunction with Bartonella spp. serology and molecular microbiological findings.

Abstract available on the VBZD website here, but full-text is paywalled.

This new paper co-authored by Dr Lanzas proposes a general framework to model pathogen transmission in semi-closed heathcare systems, using three case studies as examples.

Full text, open access can be found through nature.com, here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37938-0

Full text available open access here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jvim.15354