January 2010

The origin of numerous infectious diseases is still a mystery. Syphilis and the other treponematoses are among them. Integrating information on treponematosis from ancient human remains across time and space with modern phylogenetic data on the treponemes holds the potential to enable calculations of the evolutionary rate of treponemes. This in turn allows the origin of syphilis to be disentangled. Such a combination of tools could also be used to shed light on the origin of other infectious diseases that are still a burden to humankind (see article by de Melo et al., doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000575).

Artwork: Eduardo Gameiro. Original photographs: "Syphilis of Skull," Otis Historical Archives National Museum of Health and Medicine; "Electron micrograph of Treponema pallidum on cultures of cotton-tail rabbit epithelium cells (Sf1Ep)," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (CDC/Dr. David Cox).

Editorial

Neglected Infections of Poverty among the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic

Peter J. Hotez

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000606

Viewpoints

Quantifying the Lack of Scientific Interest in Neglected Tropical Diseases

Dieter Vanderelst, Niko Speybroeck

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000576

Policy Platform

Considerations for the Design and Conduct of a Pharmacovigilance Study Involving Mass Drug Administration in a Resource-Constrained Setting

Demissie Alemayehu, Emma N. Andrews, Paul Glue, Charles A. Knirsch

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000564

Review

Snake Bite in South Asia: A Review

Emilie Alirol, Sanjib Kumar Sharma, Himmatrao Saluba Bawaskar, Ulrich Kuch, François Chappuis

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000603

Research Articles

Characterization of a Subunit of the Outer Dynein Arm Docking Complex Necessary for Correct Flagellar Assembly in Leishmania donovani

Simone Harder, Meike Thiel, Joachim Clos, Iris Bruchhaus

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000586

Effect of Village-wide Use of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets on Visceral Leishmaniasis Vectors in India and Nepal: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Albert Picado, Murari L. Das, Vijay Kumar, Shreekant Kesari, Diwakar S. Dinesh, Lalita Roy, Suman Rijal, Pradeep Das, Mark Rowland, Shyam Sundar, Marc Coosemans, Marleen Boelaert, Clive R. Davies

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000587

A CATT Negative Result after Treatment for Human African Trypanosomiasis Is No Indication for Cure

Veerle Lejon, Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi, Marleen Boelaert, Philippe Büscher

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000590

Prevalence and Spatial Distribution of Entamoeba histolytica/dispar and Giardia lamblia among Schoolchildren in Agboville Area (Côte d'Ivoire)

Mamadou Ouattara, Nicaise A. N'Guéssan, Ahoua Yapi, Eliézer K. N'Goran

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000574

Active Trachoma among Children in Mali: Clustering and Environmental Risk Factors

Mathieu Hägi, Jean-François Schémann, Frédéric Mauny, Germain Momo, Doulaye Sacko, Lamine Traoré, Denis Malvy, Jean-François Viel

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000583

Control of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Latin America—A Systematic Review

Gustavo A. S. Romero, Marleen Boelaert

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000584

Climate Change and Risk of Leishmaniasis in North America: Predictions from Ecological Niche Models of Vector and Reservoir Species

Camila González, Ophelia Wang, Stavana E. Strutz, Constantino González-Salazar, Víctor Sánchez-Cordero, Sahotra Sarkar

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000585

Increasing Trends of Leptospirosis in Northern India: A Clinico-Epidemiological Study

Sunil Sethi, Navneet Sharma, Nandita Kakkar, Juhi Taneja, Shiv Sekhar Chatterjee, Surinder Singh Banga, Meera Sharma

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000579

Leishmania major Glycosylation Mutants Require Phosphoglycans (lpg2⁻) but Not Lipophosphoglycan (lpg1⁻) for Survival in Permissive Sand Fly Vectors

Anna Svárovská, Thomas H. Ant, Veronika Seblová, Lucie Jecná, Stephen M. Beverley, Petr Volf

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000580

Detection and Identification of Old World Leishmania by High Resolution Melt Analysis

Dalit Talmi-Frank, Abedelmajeed Nasereddin, Lionel F. Schnur, Gabriele Schönian, Seray Özensoy Töz, Charles L. Jaffe, Gad Baneth

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000581

Differential Cytokine Gene Expression According to Outcome in a Hamster Model of Leptospirosis

Frédérique Vernel-Pauillac, Cyrille Goarant

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000582

Syphilis at the Crossroad of Phylogenetics and Paleopathology

Fernando Lucas de Melo, Joana Carvalho Moreira de Mello, Ana Maria Fraga, Kelly Nunes, Sabine Eggers

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000575

Detection of Mycolactone A/B in Mycobacterium ulcerans–Infected Human Tissue

Fred Stephen Sarfo, Richard O. Phillips, Brian Rangers, Engy A. Mahrous, Richard E. Lee, Edward Tarelli, Kingsley B. Asiedu, Pamela L. Small, Mark H. Wansbrough-Jones

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000577

The Liver Plays a Major Role in Clearance and Destruction of Blood Trypomastigotes in Trypanosoma cruzi Chronically Infected Mice

Luiz Roberto Sardinha, Tainá Mosca, Rosa Maria Elias, Rogério Silva do Nascimento, Lígia A. Gonçalves, Daniella Zanetti Bucci, Cláudio Romero Farias Marinho, Carlos Penha-Gonçalves, Maria Regina D'Império Lima, José Maria Álvarez

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: published January 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000578

Cover

A new approach to unravel the origin of syphilis.