Question

“In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for one.” (tomshoes.com)

            Continuing his movement, Blake traveled to Ethiopia later in 2006 to provide children with more shoes. Ethiopia is a poor country in Africa that has many issues pertaining to water sanitation. Only 31% of households in the country have access to safe water. Contamination of water from cattle dung and human excrement is very common. In Ethiopia, Blake arrived with a parcel of shoes to fit the local children. He helped was their feet, fitting them for shoes, and was provided shelter in one of the local homes. The parents of the children, being very thankful, made Blake and his team a lovely meal of fresh fruit and vegetables for them to share. They also gave them plenty of local water to drink in order to keep them hydrated in the hot sun.

            Blake has always been a healthy individual. He comes down with the occasional cold, but mothering more. About a week after traveling home from his visit to Ethiopia, he’s feeling a bit fatigued. “Of courses,” he says to himself, “it’s due to the time difference. I just need more rest.” During the next week, he still feels run down. A week and a half after arriving home, he realizes that something is not right. He starts with a sudden fever and a headache, along with nausea and diarrhea. He has no will to eat anything. More alarming, he’s developed rose spots all over his body and his abdomen is distended. He immediately cancels his trip to South Africa, where he was to deliver more shoes, in order to see a doctor.

            Blake calls Dr. M to make an appointment, describing to her some of his current symptoms. He tells her about his recent trip and the doctor tells him to go to the hospital immediately. She orders a blood culture and a stool sample and has the nurse start him on IV fluids. Dr. M orders the Widal test to look for any agglutination. The test comes back positive. The stool culture also shows a microorganism is present. Dr. M, immediately, writes him a prescription for IV Ceftriaxone 4g to be given intravenously once daily for 5 days.

            After completing the five days of treatment, another blood culture was taken from Blake. He was no negative for the microorganism. Dr. M instructs him that before he goes and passes out shoes again, he needs to be more concerned as to what he ingests. She also injects him with an IM dose of ViCPS, the vaccine for this microorganism, to prevent further infections and instructs him to come in for a booster every 2 years. Blake happily leaves the hospital and continues to share the mission of TOMS shoes with people around the world.

1. What is the infecting microorganism?
2. What type of infection was it? (Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, Protozoan, or Helminth)
3. How was the infection contract by the individuals in the case study?
4. How is it traditionally transmitted to humans?
5. Describe the pathogenesis of this species.

Answer 1