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A rural worker infected with a bovine-prevalent genotype of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus supports zoonotic transmission and inconsistency of MLST and whole-genome typing

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Abstract

Whole-genome characterisation in clinical microbiology enables to detect trends in infection dynamics and disease transmission. Here, we report a case of bacteraemia due to Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus in a rural worker under cancer treatment that was diagnosed with cellulitis; the patient was treated with antibiotics and recovered. The routine typing methods were not able to identify the microorganism causing the infection, so it was further analysed by molecular methods and whole-genome sequencing. The multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) revealed the presence of the bovine-associated ST-4 genotype. Whole-genome comparisons with other C. fetus strains revealed an inconsistent phylogenetic position based on the core genome, discordant with previous ST-4 strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first C. fetus subsp. fetus carrying the ST-4 isolated from humans and represents a probable case of zoonotic transmission from cattle.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by FOCEM (MERCOSUR Structural Convergence Fund), COF 03/11 and by a CSIC (Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica) fellowship to GI.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Bioinformática, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, 11400, Uruguay

    G. Iraola

  2. Sección Genética Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    G. Iraola, L. Calleros & R. Pérez

  3. Departamento de Bacteriología y Virología, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

    L. Betancor, P. Gadea & G. Algorta

  4. Laboratorio de Microbiología, Hospital Británico, Montevideo, Uruguay

    G. Algorta

  5. Unidad de Hematología, Hospital Británico, Montevideo, Uruguay

    S. Galeano & P. Muxi

  6. Unidad de Biología Molecular, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

    G. Greif

Authors
  1. G. Iraola
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  2. L. Betancor
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  3. L. Calleros
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  4. P. Gadea
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  5. G. Algorta
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  6. S. Galeano
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  7. P. Muxi
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  8. G. Greif
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  9. R. Pérez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Iraola.

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Iraola, G., Betancor, L., Calleros, L. et al. A rural worker infected with a bovine-prevalent genotype of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus supports zoonotic transmission and inconsistency of MLST and whole-genome typing. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 34, 1593–1596 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-015-2393-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-015-2393-y

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