Imported Toxin-Producing Cutaneous Diphtheria - Minnesota, Washington, and New Mexico, 2015–2018

From September 2015 to March 2018, CDC confirmed four cases of cutaneous diphtheria caused by toxin-producing Corynebacterium diphtheriae in patients from Minnesota (two), Washington (one), and New Mexico (one). All patients had recently returned to the US after travel to countries where diphtheria...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2019, Vol.68 (12), p.281-284
Main Authors: Griffith, Jayne, Bozio, Catherine H, Poel, Amy J, Fitzpatrick, Kelly, DeBolt, Chas A, Cassiday, Pamela, Kenyon, Cynthia, Smelser, Chad, Vagnone, Paula Snippes, Culbreath, Karissa, Acosta, Anna M
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:From September 2015 to March 2018, CDC confirmed four cases of cutaneous diphtheria caused by toxin-producing Corynebacterium diphtheriae in patients from Minnesota (two), Washington (one), and New Mexico (one). All patients had recently returned to the US after travel to countries where diphtheria is endemic. C. diphtheriae infection was not clinically suspected in any of the patients; treating institutions detected the organism through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) testing of wound-derived coryneform isolates. MALDI-TOF is a rapid screening platform that uses mass spectrometry to identify bacterial pathogens. This report summarizes the patient clinical information and response efforts conducted by the Minnesota, Washington, and New Mexico state health departments and CDC and emphasizes that health care providers should consider cutaneous diphtheria as a diagnosis in travelers with wound infections who have returned from countries with endemic diphtheria.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X