Superspreaders: How Disease Propagates In Infected Animals - And Antibiotics Help

Monday, October 20, 2014 - 16:10 in Health & Medicine

Some people infected with pathogens spread their germs to others while remaining symptom-free - a new study may answer why. When researchers in a new study gave oral antibiotics to mice infected with Salmonella typhimurium, a bacterial cause of food poisoning, a small minority — so called "superspreaders" that had been shedding high numbers of salmonella in their feces for weeks — remained healthy; they were unaffected by either the disease or the antibiotic. The rest of the mice got sicker instead of better and, oddly, started shedding like superspreaders. The findings point to a reason for superspreaders' ability to remain asymptomatic and also pose questions about use of sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics in livestock. read more

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