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ProMED-mail STYLE GUIDE (March 2013)
By Larry Madoff / Marjorie Pollack / Jack Woodall / Maria Jacobs
ProMED-mail must project a professional image on the Internet. To accomplish this, spelling,
grammar, formatting, and style must be of the same high standard expected in a scientific
journal.
Each e-mail message submitted to the Moderator must be examined and reformatted to reflect
the standard ProMED-mail format. While the Moderator should follow the instructions below for
standardizing each ProMED-mail submission, the Copy Editor is responsible for making sure
each submission conforms to the Style Guide before submission to the Top Moderator on duty
for posting.
Following is the standard format for a posting. The terminology in the left column is
explained/expanded in the pages that follow. Please take a moment to read them carefully.
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# = blank line
Subject Line:
Disease/Agent, host - Region/Country (thread number): (2-letter abbreviation of 1st level
administrative division) additional info
(see detailed instructions under Subject and Threading)
Post Title:
DISEASE/AGENT, HOST - REGION/COUNTRY (thread number): (1ST LEVEL
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
e.g., "Lumpy skin disease, bovine - Israel (04): spread, general vaccination"
For some very extensive threads, in order to minimize the 'Title' length and allow proper sorting
in alphabetical lists, we have omitted worldwide and used a format such as:
"Avian influenza (23): Netherlands (GE) poultry, LPAI H7N7"
(see Pandemics)
Full Text:
Date line
Date: Mon 4 Apr 2013. This should be the date of the original source, if known, not the date of
receipt by or posting to ProMED-mail. When the day is not provided, the month is spelled out:
"March 2010." (see Date line)
From line
Only included with 1st-person information, as in a letter/correspondence from a submitter.
From: Name <e-mail address> [edited]
Source line
Source: periodical title/website name [edited]
<full URL>
(see Source line and URLs. For foreign language sources see Translation)
#
#
Body
Text of the news article or direct communication
#
[Byline: Name]
#
(2 dashes)-Signature block
When direct communication, as in a letter:
Name
Address
<e-mail address> Omit phone and fax numbers (except if people are asked to call with
information or if no e-mail address is available)
With news stories or reports obtained from websites:
Communicated by:
John Smith
<jsmith@aol.com>
or
Communicated by:
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ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall (for example)
(no e-mail address since it already appears in the Who's Who page)
or
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
or
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
*For communications from the regional networks use their address:
ProMED-PORT <promed-port@promedmail.org>; ProMED-ESP <promedesp@promedmail.org>, ProMED-RUS <promed-rus@promedmail.org>, PRO/MBDS <promedmbds@promedmail.org>, ProMED-FRA <promed-fra@promedmail.com>, ProMED-EAFR
<promed-eafr@promedmail.com>
Moderator Comments:
Comment. - Mod.LM
For multiple Moderators: - Mods.MPP/JW
(see Comments)
See Also: (previous ProMED posts; see References/'see also' list)
'Title' archive number
---2012
'Title' archive number
Credit Line:
mpp/msp/lm
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Accents
See diacritic marks
Abbreviations
Dates: Months and days of the week are abbreviated with the 1st 3 letters and no punctuation
(e.g., Tue 4 Mar 2010). When only the month is mentioned it should be spelled out, followed by
the year (e.g., March 2010, not Mar 2010.)
1. 'Subject' line: should be abbreviated wherever possible to save space (e.g., RFI, conf.,
susp., &, etc.), using standard abbreviations (e.g., Natl. for Kruger National Park), ending them
with periods rather than commas. However, to save space, periods following the abbreviations
can be dispensed with (e.g., conf & susp). Countries (including England, N. -- Northern should
be abbreviated -- Ireland, Scotland, and Wales), capital cities, and metropolises are not
abbreviated unless the length of the 'Subject' requires it. Administrative divisions (provinces,
states, etc.) should use the standard 2-letter abbreviations (HASC/Hierarchical Administrative
Subdivision Codes) found at <http://www.statoids.com/statoids.html>.
Administrative divisions are not abbreviated in the regional lists (PRO/MBDS, ProMED-EAFR,
ProMED-FRA).
2. 'Title' line: Certain abbreviated disease names are kept abbreviated; e.g., Dengue/DHF,
Cholera, diarrhea, & dysentery update, E. coli, CJD, XDR, CJD (new var.), etc. Common and
easily recognized abbreviations (but use your judgment) do not need to be spelled out in the
'Title' or 'Body;' e.g., Countries: UK, USA. EU agencies: ECDC. UK agencies: IAH, HPA,
DEFRA. US agencies: CDC, FDA, USDA, USDA/APHIS, USAID, OSHA, NIAID. UN agencies:
FAO, UNESCO, WHO, PAHO, IMF, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA, WFP. Other
agencies: WTO, OIE, OIE-WAHID, MSF, NCBI, ICTV. Laboratory tests: ELISA, PCR, RT-PCR,
PFGE. Vaccines: MMR, Td, DPT, OPV. Viruses, diseases: BTV, FMD, DHF, BSE, CJD, MDRTB, XDR-TB, SARS, MRSA, HPAI, LPAI. Others: MoH, GP, CFR.
3. 'Body': Ordinal numbers are abbreviated: 1st, 23rd, etc. Scientific names are spelled out the
1st time; subsequent mentions in the same report should be abbreviated conventionally: e.g.,
_Aedes aegypti_, _Ae. aegypti_; _Legionella pneumophila_, _L. pneumophila_.
Acronyms
In the 'Body' of the text, any acronyms for health organizations, procedures, or other
terminology not easily recognized should be spelled out at their 1st occurrence, followed by the
acronym in parentheses. Acronyms are usually used in 'Subject'/'Title.'
Alert
Where the text of the source article says, for example, "Health authorities... prompted a
warning to residents..." and if space allows for it, "alert" is included in the 'Title,' usually at or
near the end, and in lower case (alert), as in "Measles - Japan: (Tokyo, Saitama), alert, RFI"
To avoid missed search results we have agreed to always used 'alert' rather than 'warning'.
As a rule, the alert posting serves as the 1st of a thread.
Announcements
ProMED-mail regularly receives announcements of new health guidelines, collaborations,
availability of proceedings, etc.
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Announcements must be cleared with the Editor before posting.
Announcements are posted individually and titled informatively; e.g., "Announcements (04):
OIE, WAHIS, new version"
If announcing an event with a date, it should be a Calendar item (see Calendar items)
(see EXAMPLE: ANNOUNCEMENT)
Anonymity
ProMED-mail's policy is not to post anonymous reports. We will withhold the name of a
submitter by request if the submitter is known and trusted by the moderator or top moderator.
We may also attribute the submission to ProMED-mail if the submitter requests withholding
their name and the information is from a public domain source. However, the top mod must
have a valid e-mail address on record for the submitter so that we can forward to him/her any
incoming messages regarding their submission.
Similarly, when someone we do not know asks us for the contact e-mail of any contact or
subscriber, we forward the request to the person concerned (without copying the requester) so
that the person concerned can decide whether or not to make contact.
The name of a patient, whether or not media sources have divulged it, is never posted. We
substitute "the deceased Connecticut woman," "the younger of the 2 boys," etc. The same
applies to farm owners in animal disease and plant postings. Remove names of individuals
who are not in official positions.
Names of implicated brands, restaurants, companies, etc. already in the public domain can be
left in.
Approximation
"~" is a symbol that is read erratically by different computers, and should be replaced by
"approx.," or "about." (see Symbols)
Body
After the 'Source' line(s), 2 blank lines precede the 'Body' of the posting, which is the text of the
news article or direct communication from someone. Sometimes (see Source title), we repeat
the title of a news article with a row of dashes underneath or the 'Body' simply begins. Single
blank lines separate paragraphs, and separate the last paragraph from the 'Signature block.'
Long paragraphs should be divided, and the one-sentence paragraphs common in news
stories may be merged into others.
Byline
In the case of a news item, this information is often provided along with the 'Source;' place it
following the text of the posting, before the author 'Signature' or ProMED-mail block:
[Byline: Jeffrey Stevens]
Calendar items
Announcements of conferences or other events that occur on a certain date or dates should be
posted as Calendar items.
Calendar items must be cleared with the Editor before posting.
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Announcements are posted individually and titled informatively; e.g., "Calendar (01): 31st
World Veterinary Congress, 17-20 Sep 2013" (see EXAMPLE: CALENDAR)
CJD
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is abbreviated (CJD) after the 1st mention in a posting. Similarly,
variant CJD gets the following text after 1st mention: [abbreviated previously as vCJD or CJD
(new var.) in ProMED-mail].
Comments
In 'Body' of posting: Occasionally a Moderator makes comments at the beginning or within the
'Body' of a posting. Such comments should be placed between [ ] and should end in '. Mod.XX', e.g., [Information has been requested from the local authorities. - Mod.CP]
More substantial 'Comments' are usually placed after a single blank line at the end of the
'Signature block' and end with '. - Mod.XX' , all enclosed in editorial brackets.
Separate each Moderator's comment with brackets so it is clear who said what, rather than
have them all run together in a single comment.
When a single comment by multiple Moderators is included, it ends with: e.g., . Mods.MPP/JW]
Confirmed
Both "confirmed" and "suspected" (both without a capital) should be the last word in a 'Subject'
or 'Title,' after a colon and a space; e.g., "Lassa fever - Liberia (02): confirmed" or "CrimeanCongo hem. fever - South Africa (03): susp."
When space is tight, these should be shortened to "susp." and "conf.," and the periods
following the abbreviations can be dispensed with. (see Suspected)
Contributor/submitter signature block
The 'Body' of a posting is followed by a blank line, 2 dashes, and the contributor's/submitter's
'Signature block.' These may be as short as the name and e-mail address that appear in the
'From' line when it is a direct communication, like a letter, and are repeated here for ease of
reference. Remove any attempts at "layout," logos, etc. from 'Signature blocks.'
Format:
Direct communication:
-David M Sander
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SL38
Tulane University Medical School
New Orleans, LA
USA
<dmsander@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu>
News stories or reports obtained from websites:
Communicated by:
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John Smith
<jsmith@aol.com>
or
Communicated by: (e.g.)
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
or
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail (or ProMED-RUS, PRO/MBDS, ProMED-EAFR, etc.)
<promed@promedmail.org>
or
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
ProMED Correspondents are treated as Moderators and fall under the general ProMED-mail
brand name. Their initials are added to the 'end-of-file' line.
Corrections
Corrections to the archives are initiated by the Top Mod and any requests for corrections
should be addressed to the Top Mod on duty. For all corrections we publish, the original report
retains the error but the Top Mod inserts the following type of message:
[There is a correction of this report: Avian influenza, human (19): Indonesia (NS) susp. corr.
20110306.0736]
Corrections have the same 'Subject' and thread number as the original posting (see Errors
(post posting). The Copy Editor is responsible for reminding the Top Mod to insert the
message in the original report.
Credit lines
These are added automatically to all postings, directly under the all-caps 'Title,' as follows:
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Currency
Currency name appears before quantity (USD 240); when given in a different currency, the
Copy Editor is responsible for providing the US dollar equivalent, in brackets.
Dashes
See hyphens
Date line
Must be included in every posting. Months and days of the week are abbreviated with the 1st 3
letters and no punctuation. The time, when included, may remain. Format:
Date: Tue 4 Mar 2010 22:38:08 EST (it is not necessary to include the time).
There should only be one date. It appears on the 'Date' line and not on the 'Source' line. The
'Date' line should be the publication date of the source, if known. If no date is given the 'Date'
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line is the date when the report was received by ProMED-mail. When citing journals, use the
publication date of the journal. If only the month is given it should be spelled out (e.g., March
2010)
If the 'Source' is more than a few days old, it is customary to add [ProMED-mail regrets the
delay in posting] on a line between the URL and the beginning of the report. When becoming
aware of an article several days after it is published, write e.g., [accessed on 25 Jan 2010] to
show that the delay was one of finding the source.
Dateline (of publication)
Many press reports begin with a dateline, which consists of a city name in all caps and a colon.
Because it may be the city in which the article is published and may have nothing to do with
the location of the event being reported, these are deleted, and the text of the report begins.
Dates
In all parts of postings complete dates appear as in the 'Date' line: day month year: Wed 6 Mar
2013. Days of the week are abbreviated without punctuation (Wed 6 Mar 2010). When the day
is not provided, the month is spelled out: "March 2010." When a report gives the day but not
the date, the date may be inserted between [ ] thus: "On Tuesday this week [4 Mar 2013] ..."
This prevents future readers from accidentally supposing that it refers to the week in which
they are checking the archives.
Decimals
Indicated by a point/period, rather than as in French and Spanish, which use a comma.
Diacritic marks
Because many computers misread them, remove ALL diacritic marks, such as accents,
umlauts in German, slashes through vowels, etc. We usually replace with the unaltered letter,
or in the case of umlauts, the unaltered letter followed by an 'e'.
Die-off vs. mortality or deaths
It is preferable to use "die-off" when related to (mass) mortality in free-roaming or wild animals.
"Mortality" and "deaths" should be used when related to domestic animals (when presumably
we can count the numbers living and dead).
Disease names
Disease names are in lower case (e.g.: avian influenza, chronic wasting disease,
salmonellosis, brucellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome,
meningococcal disease). Exceptions are proper nouns (e.g., Newcastle disease, CreutzfeldtJakob disease)
The format of certain disease names should be used consistently in the body of all postings
(e.g., foot-and-mouth disease, hand-foot-mouth disease, bovine tuberculosis, equine strangles,
equine infectious anemia, etc.)
For the names of diseases most often we follow precedent so previous postings should be
consulted.
Additional sources for guidance are the WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
(<http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/>) for human diseases and the OIE-approved
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disease nomenclature (<http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/en_alpha.htm>) for animal diseases.
End-of-file line/tracking line ("credit/blame line")
Directly after the last line of the 'Signature block,' comment, or 'see alsos' (whichever is last),
the lower-case initials of the Correspondents, Moderators, and Copy Editors who have handled
the post, in the order in which they handled it, e.g.,
sb/jw/cp/msp/dk
This makes a clear divider between different posts when they are merged in the Digests, and
makes trace-back easier, if needed.
Errors (post-posting)
While we would like our reports to be as complete and accurate as possible, our postings will
inevitably contain errors that need correction. Our ability to spot, acknowledge, and promptly
correct our errors is an extremely important part of our credibility and professionalism. A
system has been proposed for the rapid correction of errors according to the type and
importance of the error. If you spot an error in a posted report, please send an e-mail to
GREEN alerting the Top Mod to the error. The Top Mod will act according to the following
guidelines to correct the error.
1. Minor errors. These include typographical errors, misspellings, grammatical mistakes,
misnumberings of archives, minor errors in references or URLs, and other errors that are worth
fixing but are not of much significance. These will be corrected by the Top Mod using the ticket
system to alert Phil and Amy who will correct the Majordomo archive and use the workbench to
correct the web archive. It will not be necessary to mark that the archive has been corrected.
2. Corrections of moderate importance. These are factual errors of some significance to our
readers. Examples would be geographical errors, incorrect nomenclature for a disease or host,
incorrect dating of an outbreak, or erroneous attribution.
These will be handled using a new list, (promed-err) PRO/ERR>, to which all moderators are
now subscribed (and all Top Mods have posting rights). Submissions to this list will be
formatted as all ProMED-mail reports and include the 'Subject' and thread number of the
original report and a short text describing the error and the correction. These will not be sent to
readers, but will be posted automatically on the web in the 'ERRATA' box now at the bottom of
our main page. The original report retains the error and the Top Mod will use the ticket system
to place a notice at the very top of the archived version stating: e.g.:
[There is a correction of this report: Avian influenza, human (19): Indonesia (NS) susp. corr.
20110306.0736]
These corrections will not be mailed to readers. They will be part of the archive and will
generally come up in the same search result as the original report.
3. Serious errors that have potential consequences. Examples of these types of errors would
include information that might cause panic or undue worry, or that might mislead public health
or medical personnel into taking mistaken action. These have been quite rare, but might
include the false report of an outbreak. In addition to the actions taken for moderate errors
above (i.e., promed-err message generated, archive corrected and annotated, posting to the
errata box), these corrections will be e-mailed to the same list(s) that received the original
report, and posted as: e.g., "Yellow fever - Peru: (Cuzco), corr."
Foodborne illness
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The designation "foodborne illness" is to be used instead of the less scientific "food poisoning".
The general format for these postings is
Foodborne illness - Country: (location) species, vehicle, fatal, etc.
From line
The 'From:' line is only included with 1st-person information like a letter.
From: Name <e-mail address> [edited]
Many e-mail programs add double quotes when an addressee is a member of the sender's
address book ("Marco Jermini" <MAJ@who.it>). These quotes should be deleted, leaving the
following format:
From: Marco Jermini <MAJ@who.it> [edited]
Geopolitics
If we are inconsistent in referring to geopolitical divisions, it makes it nearly impossible for
someone searching the database to find what they are looking for, and makes it unlikely that
they will find all the postings in a thread.
We use the country names accepted by WHO and available on their website
<http://who.int/countries/en/> (e.g., "Viet Nam," not "Vietnam"). We sometimes shorten names
if the meaning is clearer, for example "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" becomes
"Macedonia" and "Iran (Islamic Republic of)" becomes "Iran." We also use "Taiwan," "North
Korea," "South Korea," and "Palestinian Authority." China refers to Hong Kong and Macau as
Special Administrative Region, or SAR, but in our postings they will be referred to as China:
(Hong Kong) and China: (Macau); Congo DR is Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa).
Congo Rep is the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). The island of Borneo is divided among
the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. The United Arab Emirates is a federation
consisting of 7 sheikhdoms or emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Umm alQawain, Ajman, and Fujairah. We designate the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey) as
part of the UK. In general we use the English name for administrative divisions, but consult the
archives for the best option.
Many cities in the "New World" have names that may confuse our international readership:
Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Moscow, Idaho, etc. While this will probably not need clarification in
'Subject'/'Title,' if such names appear in the text, add clarifying info in brackets.
The definition of the regions of the world for extensive threads (e.g., Europe, Eurasia, Oceania,
etc.) is decided on a case-by-case basis but a good general rule is to use the region when
there are more than 2 countries involved; e.g.:
Avian influenza - Eurasia (32): Ukraine, Croatia, wild bird
If you have doubts about how a piece should be titled, check the precedents in the archives. If
we have been consistent, follow them. If not, consult the Top Mod on duty.
Grammar/spelling
Grammatical errors, ambiguity, etc. should be corrected, including helping those for whom
English is not a 1st language. This is mostly the province of the Copy Editor.
Letters to the Editor can be corrected and cut at the editor's discretion. Articles by journalists
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should have spelling, and other mistakes corrected. Articles from scientific sources such as
MMWR, WER, and Eurosurveillance should also have spelling and other mistakes corrected.
Attention should be paid to newswire descriptions of types of organisms... leaving a newswire
error such as "the cholera virus" results in multiple letters to the editors.
It is not necessary to enclose minor editorial changes in [ ], as they can make reading difficult.
We do not make an effort to conform British English to American usage in the body of the text.
This is done only in 'Subject'/'Title' to maintain consistency in the archives and mostly
regarding spelling differences.
If there is a question re: meaning, especially in a Moderator's comment, there is probably time
to query it, and this is preferable to changing their meaning.
The Copy Editor working on the post should flag any changes in text from either the body of the
report or the Mod comment in the beginning of the edited posting (or via the comments to the
Top Mod in the dashboard).
Green
See Urgency
Hyperbole
We generally edit dramatic or inflammatory language, e.g., "A healthy 38-year-old male was
struck by" to "… became ill with" or the like. Purple prose is to be kept to a minimum.
Hyphens
Dashes ('em' dashes) in text are replaced with twin dashes surrounded by spaces to distinguish
them from hyphens; e.g.: "…this outbreak -- Uganda's 1st -- originated in the town of Gulu."
Note that in some postings (e.g., those from MMWR), dashes seem to change on their own to
varying numbers of hyphens. Check the original source and edited version before sending.
(see Symbols)
Importation
It is important to show accurately the movement of an infectious agent from one place to
another. We use the Latin "ex" in 'Subject' and 'Title' (where it remains in lower case) to
indicate "from," e.g., "Trypanosomiasis - USA: (MT) ex Nigeria" and "TRYPANOSOMIASIS USA: (MONTANA) ex NIGERIA". When the report refers to in-country spread 'ex' is not used in
'Subject' or 'Title.'
The colon is placed right after the country where the case occurred, to permit the thread
numbering for that country to continue even if the state/province changes; e.g., "Rabies - UK:
(N Ireland) ex abroad, susp." and "RABIES - UK: (NORTHERN IRELAND) ex ABROAD,
SUSPECTED"
"Rabies - UK (02): (N Ireland) ex abroad, conf." and "RABIES - UK (02): (NORTHERN
IRELAND), ex ABROAD, CONFIRMED"
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Journal articles
Use the publication date of the journal in the 'Date line.'
When the source is a journal article, the complete reference should be included, but it is up to
the Top Mod to decide where to place it (e.g., with the source or before or after the body of the
post).
Suggested format:
Date: Wed 8 Aug 2012
Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases journal [summ., edited]
<http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/9/12-0402_article.htm>
[Ref: Gutierrez RA, Buchy P: Contaminated soil and transmission of influenza virus (H5N1)
[letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the internet]. 2012 Sep [date cited]
---------------------------------------------------------------------Text
When several articles are mentioned, then it would make sense to reference them at the end of
the post. (see References)
Latin
Pay attention to subject/verb agreement when using Latin medical/scientific terms, e.g., "a larva
was found" and "hundreds of larvae were collected," "bacterium/bacteria." "Data" is always
plural.
Length
If feasible, reports should be edited down to one or 2 screens of essential text; our subscribers
have a lot to read every day.
Line wrapping
For the subscribers' ease in reading, we remove all "hard" line breaks in postings. Since many
e-mail programs place these automatically and each posting goes through at least 3 people's
hands, it can be a problem. The Copy Editor is in the practice of copying all postings into Word,
where non-printing characters (including the paragraph sign) are displayed. S/he then removes
all hard returns that do not separate paragraphs, makes edits, and copies the piece back into
the Dashboard. Copy Editors should remove all automatic formatting of characters (e.g., double
hyphens converted into 'em-dashes') when copying text into Word.
Maps and Meta Information
Each ProMED post contains "meta information". The dashboard tries to extract this information
automatically from each post, but it still needs to be checked and often corrected manually.
There are several purposes for the meta information:
- the geographic location(s) allows a pin or pins to be placed accurately on the map, and
allows the map to zoom to the correct location on the website (in turn allowing users to see
nearby outbreaks).
- the meta information allows a map link to be added automatically to the bottom of the post so
that readers who receive a post by e-mail can access a map. Readers can use the map, for
example, to localize all dengue reports in the past 60 days.
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At times additional maps are desirable showing the country with provinces delineated, or
showing the involved province with districts delineated. Be aware that many maps of countries
are available but not always current.
- the meta information allows the growing archive of ProMED reports (now 50 000 archived
reports going back to 1994) to be accurately used for research and evaluation purposes.
Where are specific diseases or categories of disease occurring and what species are affected?
What is the time course of disease and of outbreak reporting? For example, an upcoming
Nature Review paper uses ProMED reports to track the acceleration of emerging fungal
pathogens. It is possible to access all reports on fungal pathogens, because the disease
information is included in the meta information of each post.
Changes to the meta information that appears automatically at the top of the editing page and
choosing the correct maps are primarily the responsibility of the Copy Editors with Top Mods
serving as back up and checking that the information is correct.
For more detailed instructions for the Meta Information please refer to the 'Dashboard User
Guide' available for download from the Log In page of the Dashboard.
Measurements
For clarity's sake, use a space between the numeral and the unit of measurement, e.g.: 50 km;
150 cc. When the Greek letter "mu" is used, spell out "micro," as many computers will misread
this character, e.g., l becomes microliter.
Moderators/Correspondents
When anyone listed as a Moderator or Correspondent in the "Who's Who at ProMED-mail"
section of the website submits a piece, instead of listing their name and e-mail, the 'Signature
block' should read:
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
There are exceptions/special circumstances when they want their name to appear on a special
commentary, or a special post (such as an obituary when they knew the individual). This is
usually approved by the Top Mod.
Their initials appear at the 'End-of-file' line.
Moderators should disable their automatic e-mail signature block.
Multi-part postings
All multi-part postings follow the same format:
After the 'Credit' lines, insert a blank line, and if a table of contents (TOC) is required, format
the text as follows:
In this posting/update:
[1]
[2]
******
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[1]
'Date'/'Source' block
'Body
'Signature' block'
[Comment]
******
[2]
Format as [1]
The format and numbering are continued until the final section.
Not all multipart postings require a TOC (e.g., when there are several news releases on the
same outbreak), but if there are different outbreaks referred to, or if they contain official reports
(such as WHO, OIE, FAO) there should be a TOC.
Often a Moderator will collect several pieces on the same subject, consolidating them into one
posting. Some subjects like cholera, diarrhea & dysentery, meningococcal disease,
dengue/DHF, BSE, HIV/AIDS, etc. are collected regularly as UPDATES (see Updates; see
Subtitles/Table of contents; see EXAMPLES: MULTI-PART POSTING (1 & 2), and MULTIPART POSTING - UPDATE)
New drugs and vaccines
We do not post the very many reports of new drug or vaccine development until they have
passed at least late clinical testing
Not
In a thread that has begun with "suspected," if/when the diagnosis is confirmed by lab results,
the 'Title' ends with ": confirmed;" however, if the initial suspicion is proven wrong by a lab, the
posting's 'Title' ends with ": NOT" (in caps in both the 'Subject' and 'Title').
Numbers
All numbers greater than one should be shown as numerals except when they are the 1st word
in a sentence. This, however, should be avoided (e.g., "Seven animals were destroyed" would
appear as "A total of 7 animals ... "). In postings that are nothing but reports of how many
cases and where, beginning a sentence with a numeral is acceptable.
Following the WHO international standard, numerals of 4 digits appear without comma or
decimal point: 4789; numerals of 5 digits or more appear with blank spaces where a comma
would appear in the American system, e.g., "1,289,000" becomes "1 289 000."
Ordinal numbers are abbreviated: 1st, 23rd, etc.
Obituaries
The format is as follows:
15
Obituary: D Carleton Gajdusek
OBITUARY: D CARLETON GAJDUSEK
Date: Mon 15 Dec 2008
Source: The Scientist NewsBlog [edited] (or From: )
<http://www.the-scientist.com>
D Carleton Gajdusek, 1923-2008
-----------------------------The body and the rest of the posting are formatted as usual.
Pandemics
In order to organize the large number of postings such as those on influenza into one thread,
we dispensed with the geographic designation in titling before the thread number (assuming
'worldwide'). Thus, any geographical and additional information are placed after the thread
number and the colon, and the Region/State/Province/City name in parentheses. The format is
(e.g.):
Avian influenza, human (32): China (SH, AH) H7N9
Avian influenza (24): Netherlands (FL, GE) poultry, LPAI H7N7
Influenza (26): European region update
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (123): vaccine safety
Influenza pandemic (H1N1) 2009, animal (35): Italy, swine, OIE
Patient names
See anonymity
Plant postings
It is a convention of plant pathology to use as the date of a 1st report that of the publication of
the 1st report for a pathogen, no matter when the samples were collected or the symptoms first
noted.
In plant postings, the 1st report, which refers to country, precedes the province/state; e.g.,
"Asian soybean rust - Canada: 1st report, (ON)."
The term '1st report' is reserved for 1st reports in countries, not when a pathogen spreads to
another area within a country where it was previously reported.
Also note that the planting season is not the same as the calendar year.
It is safest to check with the plant disease Moderator before adding dates to a post or making
any other changes. (see EXAMPLE: PLANT POSTING)
Rapporteurs
People who regularly send in pieces for consideration. Their names appear in the 'Signature
block' but not in the tracking line at the end of the posting.
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
16
(their e-mail address is already in the Who's Who page)
See "Who's Who on ProMED" on the website for the latest list.
Some Rapporteurs prefer that we NOT use their names. Copy Editors and Top Mods should
be familiar with the current standing of those whose submissions should remain as:
Communicated by: ProMED-mail. Currently the only Rapporteur who has requested anonymity
is Joe Dudley.
Other requests from Rapporteurs are:
Kunihiko Iizuka's name can be used but not his e-mail address
Akiko Kamata is a FAO official whose name appears in various FAO reports. His name and
affiliation can be used but not his e-mail address.
Recall
Another special type of posting. When a report refers to an item such as a food or medical
device that is recalled by the manufacturer or by a government agency for defect such as
contamination, the 'Title' line will contain the word "recall" (without a capital) e.g., "E. coli O157,
steak - USA: (PA), recall" This will then cause it to appear in a special section of the website, in
addition to its normal location.
Red
See Urgency
References/'see also' list
There are 2 types of references:
1. “see also” list. This is a list of previous ProMED-mail postings from our archives related to
the current item, and appear immediately before the attribution at the end of a posting, after
the closing 'Signature block,' and after any comment that may be included. Providing 'see
alsos' is the responsibility of the Moderator
'See alsos' are preceded by a single blank line, '[see also:' on a separate line, and are followed
by a closing bracket on the same line as the last reference. Each reference is the 'Subject' of a
posting followed on the same line by the unique identifying number composed of the year,
month, day, decimal point, and a 4-digit ID. The 'Subject' and identifying number are separated
by one or 2 blank spaces; if no space is inserted, the identifying number can no longer be
clicked as a "hot link" to the archive.
References for the current year are given first, followed by other years, most recent first. The
4-digit year over 4 dashes acts as separator before the next year's references. Note that 'see
alsos' from the current year are not preceded by the year and 4 dashes.
For long lists of 'see alsos,' consider listing the 1st, last, and selected additional previous
postings from each country/province/year can be listed. If there are only one or 2 archives that
refer to disease X in a given country, but many about that disease in other countries, consider
showing a selection of the latter.
Readers will be able to get other archives from the 'see alsos' of the last in thread or at the end
add, e.g., [for additional background information please check the previous postings in each
thread] or [and older items in the archives].
17
2. Citations to journal articles that the Moderator feels are relevant to the posting. Any
reasonable form is acceptable and we do not bother to standardize this. The same applies to
author references within the body of an article.
Suggested format: Authors: Title. Journal. Year; vol(issue): pages.
The Mod attribution (“- Mod.MPP”) should begin on a new line after the last of the series of
references so it will not be lost in the list. (see Journal articles)
Requests for Information
RFIs are a special type of posting meant to solicit up-to-date reports, information from local
authorities, etc. Like alerts, RFIs usually form the beginning of a thread. "RFI" appears at the
end of a 'Subject' line, after a colon, while the 'Title' line will show the spelled-out "REQUEST
FOR INFORMATION"
The Copy Editor should flag when a Mod comment poses a question for more information,
suggesting that the posting be an RFI.
Salutations/closings
Openings and closings appropriate to correspondence such as "Dear Sir" or "Very truly yours"
should be removed, as in the "letters to the editor" section of a newspaper. They may be kept
in calendar items or announcements.
Scientific names
Anything normally italicized in scientific or medical writing should be placed between
underscores to simulate italics; thus _Aedes aegypti_. Subsequent mentions in the same
report should be abbreviated conventionally: _Ae. aegypti_.
The genus is _Ebolavirus_. Therefore, any virus in the genus is "an ebolavirus" (not "Ebola
virus"). "Ebolavirus disease" has been adopted as the correct term, rather than "Ebola
hemorrhagic fever"
The genus is _Culicoides_ but the pluralized generic term is "culicoids" (not "culicoides").
The generic name for any virus of the genus _Hantavirus_ is "hantavirus" (e.g. "hantaviruses
are transmitted...," not "the hantavirus is transmitted..."
When including scientific names in the 'Subject/Title,' please check the archives to ensure
consistency or consult the Top Mod on duty.
Source line
The 'Source' line contains the name of newswire, newspaper, website, or other source. It must
always end with [edited] to avoid copyright infringement and allow us to make changes to
'Body' of the text. Include the URL if available, on the next line, within < >, after checking to
see that it works. Format:
Source: GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Online Network) [edited]
<http://www.gideononline.com/>
Source title
We delete the title used by the source in most cases, because they may be misleading and
18
often intended to be catchy. The source title may include the location of the bureau if it is a
media piece; this is also deleted, since it often has little to do with the location of the event being
reported. The resulting text is the 'Source' line ending with [edited], usually followed by a line of
URL, 2 blank lines, and then the 'Body' of the text.
Exceptions: WHO, MMWR, Eurosurveillance, OIE, etc., titles are usually retained, as they are
informative and often include the report number.
Spelling
We follow American English in 'Subject' lines (and 'Title'), where variations would sort
alphabetically to different places. Within the 'Body' of the text, we do not remove British usage.
Special attention should be paid to correcting spelling errors (use spell check). Grammar
should be corrected in reports submitted by non-native English speakers. Some of these
reports may contain words impossible to understand in the context; the term "[sic]" should be
inserted after them. (see Grammar/spelling)
In general we use the English name for all locations, but consult the archives for the best
option.
Subject
The 'Subject' line is used to archive postings, and unlike the 'Title,' should be abbreviated
wherever possible to save space (see Abbreviations). 'Subject' lines must be 80 characters or
less, otherwise they are truncated. If the post is assumed to be the 1st in a thread, the
maximum number of characters should be less than 75 to allow for the numbering of additional
posts in the thread. Keep commas to a minimum and avoid using prepositions. It is ultimately
the responsibility of the Top Mods but input from the Mods and Copy Editors is important.
The 'Subject' line is composed of the Disease/Agent, host - Region/Country (thread number):
(2-letter abbreviation of 1st level administrative division) additional info.
The dash is only used before the country; the colon only before the location or type of posting
(e.g., before RFI, alert, update).
Avoid the use of the characters on the top row of the keyboard (numbers and symbols) in the
'Subject' line (other than for thread numbers, 1st report). The case count (e.g.,123rd case, 5th
fatality, etc.) or update number should not be included in the 'Subject.'
"&" is not used in 'Subject' lines" between country names, or species -- these are separated by
commas (exceptions are “Foot & mouth disease,” "Porcine reprod. & resp. syndrome," and
"Cholera, diarrhea, & dysentery update").
Only the 1st word in the 'Subject' line takes a capital letter (e.g., Avian influenza, Chronic
wasting disease, Foot & mouth disease, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome); all other words are
lower case, unless they are proper nouns, acronyms, or abbreviations (e.g., Crimean-Congo
hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever, hepatitis A, dengue/DHF, RFI).
When diseases for which different names are used interchangeably, only one of these names
must be used consistently. For example, we have agreed that swine fever should be described
as: "Classical swine fever" and "African swine fever," rather than "Swine fever, classical" or
"Swine fever, African;" "Bovine tuberculosis" rather than "Tuberculosis, bovine;" "Equine
19
strangles" rather than "Strangles, equine;" "Equine piroplasmosis" rather than "Piroplasmosis,
equine." This also applies to disease names within the body of the text (see Disease names)
In order to avoid redundancy in 'Subject'/'Title' (i.e., "African horse sickness, horses," "Tomato
chlorosis virus, tomato"), the species is only added if it is different from the species implied in
the name of the disease/agent (e.g., "African horse sickness - South Africa," "Tomato chlorosis
virus - Cyprus")
The default meaning of the 'Subject' line is "in humans," For this reason, human seldom
appears; some exceptions are the 1st human case of an animal disease, pointing out an
outbreak of a zoonosis among humans, rabies, avian influenza, swine influenza viruses (but
not the pandemic strain as the default is the human).
When there is more than one animal affected, we use the singular for the species involved
(e.g., fox, horse, bat, etc) in the 'Subject'/'Title.'
Region generally means state or province (or whatever primary administrative division applies
to that particular country), and City is only used when outbreaks occur in major metropolises.
2-letter abbreviations (taken from <http://www.statoids.com/statoids.html>) are used for
administrative divisions, but NOT for capital cities, metropolises, and England, Scotland,
Wales, or Northern Ireland (except when required by space limitations). In most cases the
primary administrative division is used but in some cases (at the discretion of the moderators)
the secondary division (e.g. a district rather than a whole region) may be more informative.
When the posting refers to more than 2 states, provinces, or locations in the same country, the
terms "multistate" and "multiprovince" have been eliminated and no location is given. Multiple
locations are implicit when no state or province designation is given (and they take up too
many characters). However, in some cases, the Top Mod may wish to include them in the
'Subject'/'Title.'
Specific states (provinces, regions, cities, etc.) follow a colon in the 'Subject'/'Title;' e.g.,
"Adenovirus 14-associated pneumonia - USA: (OR)" A subsequent post would become:
"Adenovirus 14-associated pneumonia - USA (02): (OR)" This will allow threads to be
maintained even when an outbreak expands to multiple states; e.g., "Adenovirus 14associated pneumonia - USA (03): (OR, WA)"
When the posting refers to multiple countries, which are listed after the colon, it is not
necessary to include "multicountry" in the 'Subject;' e.g., "Tuberculosis, MDR, airplane
exposure - multicountry (04): (USA, France)". In such cases the 'Subject' is e.g. "Tuberculosis,
MDR, airplane exposure - (04): (USA, France)"
For the sake of clarity and depending on the length of the 'Subject,' the Top Mod on duty
decides whether to use the abbreviation or spell out the location.
- PRO/MBDS, ProMED-EAFR, and ProMED-FRA postings: the administrative division is
spelled out in the 'Subject' line.
WHO, FAO, and OIE reports. The agency initials are included in the 'Subject'/'Title' when the
posting is exclusively a report from the agency. In multipart postings that also contain reports
from other sources (such as the case counts for H1N1), WHO or whichever agency is included
in the corresponding 'Subtitle.' (see Threading)
20
Case, fatality, outbreak, etc. counts are not included in the 'Subject'/'Title'.
Subtitles/table of contents (TOC)
Multi-part postings, including our regular international update postings, and ongoing reports on
influenza pandemic (H1N1), avian influenza, West Nile virus, cholera, diarrhea & dysentery,
etc., require 'Subtitles' or a TOC to direct the reader to subsections. These are placed after one
line space from the 'Credit' lines and follow the forms:
In this update/posting:
[1] Country (region/city): specific info
[2] Country (region/city): specific info
******
Example:
[1] Brazil (Sao Paulo)
[2] Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
[3] Paraguay (Asuncion)
[4] Paraguay: WHO confirmation
For postings with more than one subject (e.g., Cholera, diarrhea, dysentery)
[1] Subject - Country (region/city): specific info
[2] Subject - Country (region/city): specific info
******
Examples:
In this update/posting:
Asia
[1] Shigellosis - Russia (Yakutia): milk
[2] Cholera - Cambodia
Oceania
[3] Cholera - Papua New Guinea (East Sepik, Morobe, Madang)
[4] Diarrhea - Fiji (Viti Levu)
******
or
[1] Undiagnosed wilt - Uganda (Bugiri)
[2] Multiple diseases - Thailand
******
It is not necessary to add a colon before the region/city (as we do for the 'Subject'/'Title.')
Special attention should be paid to consistency in the formatting of 'Subtitles' in all postings.
The subtitle is repeated in the 'Body' of the posting, at the beginning of each separate section
(see Multi-part postings; see EXAMPLES: MULTI-PART POSTING (2) with a TOC)
Summary
Just as in translation, occasionally a Moderator will summarize a long submission. We
acknowledge this at the end of the 'Source' line thus:
Agence France Press [summ. Mod.MPP, edited]
21
Suspected
Like "confirmed," "suspected" (both without a capital) should be the last word in a 'Subject' or
'Title,' after a colon and a space, e.g., "Lassa fever - Liberia (02): confirmed" or "CrimeanCongo hem. fever - South Africa (03): susp."
When space is tight, these should be shortened to "susp." and "conf.," and the periods
following the abbreviations can be dispensed with. (see Confirmed)
Symbols
Many commonly used symbols are read erratically by different computers, and therefore should
be spelled out. For example: "~" should be replaced by "approx." or "about", ">" and "<" should
be replaced by "greater than" and "less than" respectively; "±" becomes "+/-," etc.
In the body of some texts (such as an MMWR report), oftentimes the <> signs are combined
with a single hyphen to signify "greater than or equal to" or "less than or equal to". When
copying and pasting these texts into a post, the <> signs are lost leaving a resultant = sign.
Hence, in proofing these reports, the original text must be consulted to verify the correct text
translation that should be used. This is very important as a mistake significantly changes the
meaning of the original text.
Temperature
For any expression of temperature, avoid using the degree symbol, as it may not be read
accurately by all computers. Replace with "deg" thus: "Rendering plants in Austria were
required to use steam autoclaving (100 deg C/212 deg F)."
Threading
A series of postings on the same subject, with common epidemiology/geography, forms a
thread. Often the 1st posting is a request for information or alert. Subsequent members of a
thread are given sequential numbers (in both the 'Subject' and 'Title'), usually by the Moderator
who sends it to the GREEN list. (Note: the 1st of a thread is not numbered, except in updates,
calendar items, and announcements). However, it is important to check that the next number is
correct and that NOTHING in the 'Subject' before the thread number has changed. Otherwise,
archiving of the postings will not be accurate. The Top Mods rely upon the Copy Editors for
verification of thread number consistency.
When creating a 'Subject,' consider the possibility of it becoming a thread (threaded 'Subjects'
before (thread number) cannot be changed. The general format is:
Disease/Agent, host - Region/Country (thread number): (1st level admin. div.) additional
information
The comma after the (location) is not necessary and should not be used, especially if the length
of the subject is a concern.
If something in the 'Subject' is likely to change if the posting becomes a thread (e.g., "unknown
source"), then it should be placed after the thread number and a colon. The wording to explain
additional details can then change at will. E.g.:
Foot & mouth disease - China: (SC) porcine, st O
Foot & mouth disease - China (02): (GD, XZ) porc, bov, st O, A, susp, RFI
Foot & mouth disease - China (03): (GD) st O, (XZ) st A, porc, bov, conf, OIE
22
The maximum length of the subject line (characters and spaces included) is 80 characters.
In order to minimize the 'Subject' length and allow proper sorting in alphabetical lists, we have
omitted 'worldwide' (it is assumed or regarded as potential unless a specific country is named)
and use the format:
Avian influenza (24): Netherlands (FL, GE) poultry, LPAI H7N7
For threads that involve several different species or transmission routes, such as the "Rabies"
and "Anthrax" threads, we place only the disease, country, and thread number before the
colon; all other information is placed after the colon:
Disease - Region/Country (thread number): all other information. E.g.:
Anthrax - Russia (07): (AL) human, bovine
Bluetongue - Europe (14): Greece (AI) st 4, OIE
Rabies - India: (GA) canine, human
Rabies update - USA (19): October 2010
Avoid creating multiple sub-threads. Even if they refer to different outbreaks, reports belong in
the same thread as long as they are from the same country, in the same year, and the main
part of the thread name remains the same. The state/province/etc. name and extra qualifiers
are placed after the colon. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the moderators as is
the case with the "Salmonellosis" threads, which are separated by serotype.
In order to facilitate the trace back of threads, the 1st 'diagnosis' of an undiagnosed illness
should be formatted as follows:
Undiagnosed illness, wombats - Australia (06)
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the confirmatory post would be:
Undiagnosed illness, wombats - Australia (07): plague conf.
The next post would be Plague, wombats - Australia. (see Undiagnosed events)
It is the responsibility of the Mods and Top Mods to end current threads and to begin new ones.
The beginning of a year implies a new thread.
Titles
The 'Title' is usually provided by the Moderator who sends the piece to the GREEN list. It
appears in capital letters (the exception is the word "ex").
In general the 'Title' is the same as the 'Subject' line (see Subject), except that anything
abbreviated in the 'Subject' line is spelled out in the 'Title' (e.g., Rep = REPORT; susp. =
SUSPECTED; RFI = REQUEST FOR INFORMATION). Some commonly understood
abbreviations (i.e., OIE, WHO, E. coli, UK, USA, etc.) are left abbreviated (see Abbreviations).
If there is additional useful information that wasn't included in the 'Subject' due to space
restrictions, it can be included in the 'Title.'
Translation
Often a Moderator will also act as the translator of foreign language pieces. In these cases, the
'Source' line takes the following format:
[in (language), trans. (&/or summ.) Mod.NN (or submitter), edited]; e.g.:
Source: La Prensa [in Spanish, trans. & summ. Mod.TY, edited]
23
Undiagnosed events
For "undiagnosed" events (both human and animal) the standards are:
- Undiagnosed deaths: when known number; e.g.:
Undiagnosed deaths - Libya: RFI, H1N1 susp
Undiagnosed deaths, pigmy elephant - Malaysia: (SA) poisoning susp.
"Undiagnosed deaths" should be used when the report includes deaths, instead of
"Undiagnosed illness - Country: fatal" -- even when the number is not known.
- Undiagnosed die-off: for wild animals (most often birds and fish); e.g.:
Undiagnosed die-off, fish - USA: (NC, SC) lack of oxygen susp.
- Undiagnosed illness: as a general rule we should use "illness" rather than e.g., "fever" or
"disease" and the qualifying information can be placed after the colon; e.g.:
Undiagnosed illness - USA: (IL) respiratory, school closure, RFI
Undiagnosed illness - India: (TN) febrile, RFI
In order to facilitate the trace back of threads, the 1st 'diagnosis' of an undiagnosed illness
should be formatted as follows:
Undiagnosed illness, wombats - Australia (06)
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the confirmatory post would be:
Undiagnosed illness, wombats - Australia (07): plague conf.
The next post would be Plague, wombats - Australia. (see Undiagnosed events)
Updates
In 'Subject'/'Title' it is standardized as singular, without a capital; e.g.: "Meningococcal disease
update (15)"
"Dengue/DHF update (20): Asia, Pacific"
"Cholera, diarrhea & dysentery update (10): Africa, Americas"
"Measles update (09)"
For disease update threads (e.g., dengue, cholera, measles, poliomyelitis, etc.) it is not
necessary to include 'worldwide' in the 'Subject'/'Title'.
Although the archive reflects variation in practices, update titles bear a sequential number,
which gets reset with the beginning of the calendar year. The current year is no longer included
in the 'Subject'/'Title'.
Urgency
"RED" pieces are urgent; they do not go to a Moderator or to the Copy Editor, but instead are
handled directly by the Top Mod on duty.
"YELLOW" pieces are sent to a specialty Moderator, but go right back to the Top Mod for
posting without the copy editing step.
The vast majority of our postings are "GREEN," which indicates that a delay of 12 to 24 hours in
posting is acceptable. If the Copy Editor has a question specific for the submitting Moderator,
s/he should make sure the Moderator is copied on the comment. Moderators are not able to edit
the pending posts on the dashboard so they should submit any requests/replies to the Top Mod
and Copy Editor on duty.
24
URLs
We always include the full version of the URL when available, beginning after a hard return,
starting with a carat (<) and http:// and ending with the other carat (>). If we omit "http://" the rest
of whatever's between the <> will be read by the computer as if it were HTML code, thus
becoming invisible. e.g., <http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=42260>
The Copy Editor moves URLs to the end of a paragraph whenever possible to make them
easier to find, often making some rewriting necessary.
The Copy Editor is responsible for checking URLs given in the 'Source' line for functionality. If
the Copy Editor notices a non-functional URL in the 'Source' line or throughout the posting, he
will call it to the attention of the Top Mod on duty.
URLs should be edited carefully, as some e-mail programs mangle them or duplicate parts of
the web address.
URLs in other languages should NOT be dropped. For other language sources we give the
URL, adding [in (language), trans. (&/or sum.) Mod.NN (or submitter), edited]
Veterinary
The consensus is that "bovine," "ovine," "caprine," etc. should be used. When the report
includes several such species, the term "livestock" is acceptable.
When there is more than one animal affected, we use the singular for the species involved
(e.g., fox, horse, bat, etc)
Via
If an original posting (not a news item) is forwarded by someone other than the author, "Via:" is
added to the signature block.
It is also used when the original came from any of the regional ProMED sites or LISAS, although
these are news items. It gives credit to our hard-working partners. e.g.,
Communicated by:
John Smith <smith@aol.com> via ProMED-ESP
<promed-esp@promedmail.org>
Year
A year must be included in the 'Title' if it is not referring to the current year (which is assumed).
The position may need to be different in different circumstances; for example, if it is being
added to an existing thread, it goes after the colon.
The Top Mod should decide the best location. E.g.:
Mumps - Spain (02): (Navarre), 2006 - 2007
Clostridium difficile, ribotype 027, 2005-2006 - UK: (England, Ireland)
Salmonellosis, baby poultry, 2006 - USA: (multistate)
In plant reports, it is the publication date that counts, not the date when the samples were
collected or the symptoms first noted.
25
EXAMPLE: ANNOUNCEMENT
Announcements (03): ProMED-Mail anniversary award 2012
ANNOUNCEMENTS (03): PROMED-MAIL ANNIVERSARY AWARD 2012
******************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 29 Aug 2012
From: Larry Madoff <promed@promedmail.org> [edited]
ProMED-mail anniversary award 2012 for excellence in outbreak reporting on the internet
---------------------------------------------------------------------Each year, ProMED-mail presents an award in honor of the anniversary of its founding in
August 1994. This year, on our 18th birthday, we are pleased to announce that the 2012
ProMED-mail Award for Excellence in Outbreak Reporting on the Internet goes to one of our
own, Luiz Jacintho da Silva MD, ProMED-PORT Moderator (Mod.LJS).
Luiz Jacintho da Silva MD was Full Professor of Transmissible Diseases in the Department of
Clinical Medicine of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Unicamp (University of Campinas), Sao
Paulo, Brazil until 2011. He joined ProMED-mail in 1997 as the 1st moderator of the new
ProMED Portuguese language list, focusing on outbreak news from Brazil, Portugal, and the
Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa. This was ProMED's 1st regional network and 1st
service in a non-English language.
[...]
His expertise and dedication to ProMED's mission cannot be praised too highly, and ProMED
is proud to present its Anniversary Award to him.
-Larry Madoff, MD
Editor, ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Those who have received the ProMED-mail award for excellence in outbreak reporting on the
internet are commemorated in the "awards" section of the ProMED-mail website at
http://www.promedmail.org/aboutus/awards/. - Mod.LM]
.................................................jw/rna/lm/mj/dk/mj/jw
26
EXAMPLE: CALENDAR
Calendar (01): 31st World Veterinary Congress, 17-20 Sep 2013
CALENDAR (01): 31ST WORLD VETERINARY CONGRESS, 17-20 SEPTEMBER 2013,
PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
*******************************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Thu 14 Mar 2013
Subject: 31st World Veterinary Congress <http://www.wvc2013.com/en/home>
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Venue: Prague Congress Centre
Dates: 17-20 Sep 2013
Scientific program
-----------------If you come to Prague you may attend highly attractive lectures with world class speakers.
Scientific program sessions include:
Canine & Feline Medicine,
[...]
Veterinary Professional Wellness.
A detailed program is available at http://www.wvc2013.com/en/scientific-programme
Call for abstracts
-----------------The deadline for abstract submission is 31 Mar 2013.
The online submission form is available at
http://www.wvc2013.com/en/call-for-abstracts
Registration
-----------The deadline for an early registration fee is 31 Mar 2013.
The online registration form is available at http://www.wvc2013.com/en/registration
[...]
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
.................................................lm/mj/sh
27
EXAMPLE: MULTI-PART POSTING (1) without a TOC
Salmonellosis, salami - USA (06): red pepper
SALMONELLOSIS, SALAMI - USA (06): RED PEPPER
********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: Fri 19 Feb 2010
Source: The Washington Post [edited]
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/18/AR2010021805214.html>
The company at the heart of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella-related illness linked to
salami says it has detected the bacterium in sealed containers of red pepper from 2 suppliers,
raising concerns that other food makers may have used tainted spices.
[......]
Wholesome Spice said none of the tests by government officials has detected salmonella in its
products. Mincing Overseas did not return calls seeking comment.
[Byline: Lyndsey Layton]
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2]
Date: Wed 17 Feb 2010
Source: CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy) News [edited]
<http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/news/feb1710salmo-jw.html>
The sausage company at the center of a widespread _Salmonella_ outbreak has recalled
another 115 000 pounds of products, this time citing red pepper instead of black pepper as the
possible source of contamination. Daniele Inc., based in Pascoag, RI, said it is recalling 115
000 pounds [52 tonnes] of "Hot Salame Panino" product, a type of salami wrapped in
mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with red pepper, produced between 5 Nov 2009 and 15 Feb
2010.
[......]
28
Daniele did not name the supplier of the red pepper now under suspicion, but Rhode Island
health officials previously said that black pepper that tested positive came from 2 distributors,
Wholesome Spice and Mincing Overseas Spice Co.
[Byline: Robert Roos]
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett
[This is the 1st time that a previously unopened pepper container, this one with crushed red
pepper, revealed the outbreak strain (the "smoking gun"). More information is awaited about
the source or sources of the outbreak isolates. - Mod.LL]
[see also:
Salmonellosis, salami - USA (05): 2nd serotype, pepper source? 20100214.0523
Salmonellosis, salami - USA (04): serotype Montevideo 20100209.0444
[......]
Salmonellosis, salami - USA: alert, recall 20100124.0270
2009
---Salmonellosis, serotype Typhimurium - USA: RFI 20090108.0077]
........................................ll/mj/jw
29
EXAMPLE: MULTI-PART POSTING (2) with a TOC
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (03): (TX, UT)
EQUINE PIROPLASMOSIS - USA (03): (TEXAS, UTAH)
**********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
In this posting:
[1] Utah
[2] Texas
******
[1] Utah
Date: Wed 3 Feb 2010
Source: Standard Examiner [edited]
<http://www.standard.net/topics/horse/2010/02/03/horse-ogden-area-has-deadly-diseaseequine-piroplasmosis?
Utah's state veterinarian has confirmed one case of a rare and deadly disease in a horse in the
Ogden area. But he said that horse is currently under quarantine and the owner understands
that there are severe penalties in place to keep him from moving that horse to where the
gelding could spread the disease. "The horse is not able to leave the premises," said Bruce
King, the state vet. "No other horses are allowed [onto] the premises."
[......]
[Byline: JaNae Francis]
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2] Texas
Date: Fri 5 Feb 2010
Source: North Texas e-News, Texas Animal Health Commission report [edited]
<http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_59902.shtml>
Update on equine piroplasmosis disease investigation
----------------------------------------------------
30
The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) continues to investigate the spread of equine
piroplasmosis from a South Texas ranch, which was 1st detected in October 2009. Equine
piroplasmosis is a tick-borne protozoal infection of horses. At least one species of tick,
_Amblyomma cajennense_ has proven capable of transmitting the blood parasite. This species
of tick is endemic to South Texas and several other southern states.
[......]
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[This disease is now clearly established in the USA and needs to be treated as an endemic
national problem. - Mod.MHJ]
[Equine piroplasmosis is present in South and Central America, the Caribbean (including
Puerto Rico), Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern and Southern Europe. Only the United
States -- until October 2009 -- Canada, Australia, Japan, England, and Ireland are not
considered to be endemic areas. - Mod.JW]
[The interactive HealthMap/ProMED map is available for these states
Utah: <http://healthmap.org/r/016l>
Texas: <http://healthmap.org/r/00WR>. - CopyEd.EJP]
[see also:
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (02): (TX) 20100130.0322
Equine piroplasmosis - USA 20100129.0309
2009
---Equine piroplasmosis - USA (12): (NM) 20091230.4394
Equine piroplasmosis - USA (11): multi-state 20091203.4128
[......]
........................................sb/mhj/ejp/jw
31
EXAMPLE: PLANT POSTING
Apple scar skin viroid - South America: 1st rep. Argentina
APPLE SCAR SKIN VIROID - SOUTH AMERICA: FIRST REPORT, ARGENTINA
***************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: January 2012
Source: New Disease Reports, British Society for Plant Pathology [edited]
<http://www.ndrs.org.uk/article.php?id=025003>
[Ref: C Nome et al: First report of _Apple scar skin viroid_ (ASSVd) in apple trees in Argentina.
New Disease Reports (2012) 25, 3; DOI: 10.5197/j.2044-0588.2012.025.003]
---------------------------------------------------------------------Apple trees (_Malus domestica_) from 5 orchards in Rio Negro province, Argentina were
randomly tested for _Apple scar skin viroid_ (ASSVd) during December 2009 and January
2010. Four apple cultivars were examined. None of the 46 sampled trees had fruits yet, so no
viroid symptoms were observed. When leaf preparations were analysed by hybridisation
[assay] specific for ASSVd, 19 tested positive. Virus-free apple trees showed no reaction. Two
preparations with intense signals were analysed by electrophoresis and revealed a band in the
position expected for a viroid RNA.
The segment was excised, and (RT)-PCR amplification generated a product of the size
expected (267 bp) for ASSVd. The consensus sequence of 267 bp of 4 clones [of the product]
had 97 percent similarity with a Chinese ASSVd isolate from pear. This report of ASSVd, which
to our knowledge is the 1st in Argentina and even in South America, indicates the need for
careful testing of apple propagation material to avoid spreading of this pathogen.
-Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
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[_Apple scar skin viroid_ (ASSVd; type member of genus _Apscaviroid_) causes scar skin,
dimple and dapple apple diseases on apple. Variants affecting pear (crinkle fruit, rusty skin,
dimple) and recently also stone fruit (cherry, apricot) have been reported. Symptoms may vary
between viroid strains and are usually confined to the fruit, but some apple cultivars may
occasionally show rolling or downwards bending (epinasty) of leaves. Economic losses are
due to damaged and reduced quality fruit. Usually, the entire crop from an affected tree is
unmarketable.
No insect vectors have been identified for ASSVd. The pathogen can be spread with infected
propagation material and rootstocks, cutting tools, seed, and is also suspected to spread by
32
root contacts. Disease management relies on the use of certified viroid free planting material
and removal of pathogen reservoirs. Combinations of heat therapy and tissue culture
techniques for elimination of ASSVd from host tissues have been described.
[Ref: HR Kim et al (2006): Transmission of Apple scar skin viroid by Grafting, Using
Contaminated Pruning Equipment, and Planting Infected Seeds. Plant Pathol. J. 22, 63-67]
Maps
Argentina:
<http://media.maps.com/magellan/Images/ARGENT-W1.gif> and
<http://healthmap.org/r/1yJb>
Provinces and regions of Argentina:
http://www.zonu.com/argentina_maps/Argentina_Regions_Map_2.htm
South America, overview:
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/samerica/printpage/samainp.htm
Pictures
ASSVd symptoms on apple fruit:
http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5361910,
http://www.science.oregonstate.edu/bpp/Plant_Clinic/images/apple_dappleapple.htm,
Links
ASSVd disease information:
http://plant-disease.ippc.orst.edu/ShowDisease.aspx?RecordID=1305,
Information and research on ASSVd
http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS.1999.83.8.768
ASSVd taxonomy and description:
http://www.dpvweb.net/dpv/showdpv.php?dpvno=349,
Apscaviroid taxonomy and species list:
http://ictvdb.bio-mirror.cn/ICTVdB/80.001.0.04.htm. - Mod.DHA
See Also
2011
---Viruses & viroids, apple - India 20110407.1085
.................................................dha/msp/dk