Hundreds of people who attended a recent Tough Mudder event (a very muddy obstacle course race) in Sonoma, California, were diagnosed with pustular rashes, lesions, fevers, flu-like symptoms, neuralgia and other symptoms. He fell ill, local health officials and the media reported.
These cases can be caused by a variety of infectious agents, including: Staphylococcus Bacteria, but the main cause is a relatively obscure bacterium Aeromonas Bacteria—in particular A. HydrophilaAccording to the Sonoma County Health Department.in statewide alert This week, the California Department of Public Health announced it was considering it. Aeromonas We noted that multiple wound cultures produced robust bacteria.
A spokesperson for the Sonoma County Health Department told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that health officials are making an estimate based on calls and emails received by the department. Outbreak includes about 300 cases. Meanwhile, Tough Mudder participants tallied 489 incidents on an online forum.
The Tough Mudder event was held at Sonoma Raceway on August 19th and 20th, 2023, and there were cases where symptoms of infection developed within 12-48 hours afterward.
The Sonoma County Health Department recommends that the race should result in “extensive skin exposure to mud” and that participants with rashes, fevers or other symptoms should go to their primary care provider or receive medical care. He pointed out that if no one was there, they should go to the local emergency department. .
strong bacteria
Tough Mudder events around the country require participants to be tough and resilient as they navigate muddy obstacles, but the toughest mudder is without a doubt, A. Hydrophila. It is a rod-shaped Gram-negative bacterium that lives in the aquatic environment and soil. It can infect just about anything, including humans, animals, birds, fish, and marine reptiles. pathogen data sheet from the Canadian government. And it’s found almost everywhere: water, soil, mud, fresh food, meat, and dairy.
the serious plague of fishIt causes wounds, ulcers and fatal sepsis affecting carp, tilapia, perch, catfish, salmon and other fish. Overall, this bacterium is causing enormous economic losses to aquaculture worldwide. in humans, Aeromonas It is often thought to be the cause of gastroenteritis.But it can cause anything traveler’s diarrhea To soft tissue infectionnecrotizing fasciitis, and sepsis.
in spite of of Aeromonas Due to its robustness and ubiquity, this bacterium was not identified as a human pathogen until 1968. And researchers are still figuring it out. A. hydrophilaSeemingly capable of causing nasty infections indiscriminately. This bacterium possesses powerful virulence factors, including multiple toxins and her three types of bacterial secretion systems that are used to evade and neutralize host defenses. Almost all are resistant to multiple antibiotics such as penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, ticarcillin, carbenicillin and cephalothin.
Regarding this outbreak, the California Department of Health noted that so far the bacteria involved appear to be sensitive to several antibiotics, including ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.
The Sonoma event includes a muddy crawl under barbed wire, a rope climb up a muddy slope, a walk through knee-deep mud pools, and an obstacle called “mines”. And so on, race day is reported to include 21 obstacles. One participant said the “shaft” smelled like manure.
Spokesperson for Tough Mudder told CNN The company said it was working with local health authorities to investigate the epidemic and communicating with attendees and spectators.
“All necessary procedures were followed during the preparation and during the event,” the spokesperson said. “Our thoughts are those of those affected, and we are actively investigating to understand exactly what happened.”