Group B Streptococcus in babies, adults and animals: is there a link? Ruth Zadoks DVM, MSc, MRes, PhD Monday, 11 November 2019 Topic/s: Ian Beveridge, Streptococcus Ian Beveridge Memorial Symposium 2019 If you’ve had a baby, you’ve probably heard of Group B Streptococcus or GBS – the bacteria can be a significant cause of disease in newborn babies.
GBS, known to veterinarians as Streptococcus agalactiae, lives in our bodies and is commonly found in the normal population of bacteria in our intestines and urogenital tract.
If passed from mother to baby in labour, GBS can cause serious infections in newborns.
And it’s not just babies: in 2015, GBS caused an unprecedented outbreak of foodborne disease in adults in Singapore. The bacteria have also been found in animals, such as cows, pets, giant groupers, stingrays, crocodiles, frogs, and pedicure fish.
In the 2019 Ian Beveridge Memorial Symposium Professor Ruth Zadoks, from our Sydney School of Veterinary Science, will explore whether GBS disease in people and animals is connected, and how those connections might be affected by human and animal migration patterns, population growth and climate change. |