A Multifactorial Approach for Surveillance of Shigella spp. and Entero-Invasive Escherichia coli Is Important for Detecting (Inter)national Clusters

Abstract

van den Beld et al. Multifactorial Surveillance Shigella/EIEC for Cluster Detection patients without travel history, indicating their emergence into the Dutch population. In conclusion, laboratory surveillance using whole genome sequencing as high-resolution typing technique and for genetic characterization of isolates complements the current epidemiological surveillance, as the latter is not sufficient to detect all (inter)national clusters, emphasizing the importance of multifactorial public health approaches.

First description of aYersinia pseudotuberculosisclonal outbreak in France, confirmed using a new core genome multilocus sequence typing method

“…Different cgMLST schemes have been developed for foodborne pathogen identification. They have proven to be useful in public health surveillance and have provided tools allowing international collaboration (13, 34, 35). Discriminatory power comparisons between cgMLST and cgSNP analysis have shown a very high discriminatory power for both methods, thus arguing for the use of whole-genome-based methods for epidemiological investigation (Figure 3) (13).…”

Phylogenomic Investigation of Increasing Fluoroquinolone Resistance among Belgian Cases of Shigellosis between 2013 and 2018 Indicates Both Travel-Related Imports and Domestic Circulation

“…The current phylogenomic analysis does therefore only approximate the full extent of genomic variation of shigellosis within Belgium and may present a biased view on diversity within our country. Secondly, the available sample metadata (e.g., travel information) might be subject to omissions and mistakes, which is a limitation shared with most genomic studies [48][49][50]. Thirdly, as illustrated by our study, the combination of WGS-based phylogenomics and sample metadata can be used to perform hypothesis generation for understanding the dissemination and transmission patterns of shigellosis, but would however still require detailed epidemiological follow-up investigation, outside the scope of this study, to reject or confirm.…”

Accessory Genome Dynamics and Structural Variation of Shigella from Persistent Infections

“…In addition to this vertically inherited AMR, the approximate doubling of MSM-associated S. flexneri 2a and S. sonnei infections between 2012 and 2014 ( 4 ) was associated with the horizontal acquisition of pKSR100, an azithromycin resistance plasmid, which enhanced the epidemics ( 11 ). This evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) among shigellae and cocirculation of diverse subtypes suggests that AMR is transferred, potentially through intermediary bacterial hosts or human host coinfection with different Shigella subtypes, which has been reported in the Netherlands ( 15 ).…”