Streptococcus agalactiae Serotype IV in Humans and Cattle, Northern Europe(1)

Lyhs, U., Kulkas, L., Katholm, J., Waller, K. P., Saha, K., Tomusk, R. J. and Zadoks, R. N. (2016) Streptococcus agalactiae Serotype IV in Humans and Cattle, Northern Europe(1). Emerging Infectious Diseases, 22(12), pp. 2097-2103. (doi: 10.3201/eid2212.151447) (PMID:27869599) (PMCID:PMC5189126)

Abstract

Streptococcus agalactiae is an emerging pathogen of nonpregnant human adults worldwide and a reemerging pathogen of dairy cattle in parts of Europe. To learn more about interspecies transmission of this bacterium, we compared contemporaneously collected isolates from humans and cattle in Finland and Sweden. Multilocus sequence typing identified 5 sequence types (STs) (ST1, 8, 12, 23, and 196) shared across the 2 host species, suggesting possible interspecies transmission. More than 54% of the isolates belonged to those STs. Molecular serotyping and pilus island typing of those isolates did not differentiate between populations isolated from different host species. Isolates from humans and cattle differed in lactose fermentation, which is encoded on the accessory genome and represents an adaptation to the bovine mammary gland. Serotype IV-ST196 isolates were obtained from multiple dairy herds in both countries. Cattle may constitute a previously unknown reservoir of this strain.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland, through project no. 2500/31/2009, “S. agalactiae—an increasing risk for dairy herds in loose housing systems.”
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Zadoks, Professor Ruth
• Authors: Lyhs, U., Kulkas, L., Katholm, J., Waller, K. P., Saha, K., Tomusk, R. J., and Zadoks, R. N.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• ISSN: 1080-6040
• ISSN (Online): 1080-6059
• Copyright Holders: Emerging Infectious Diseases is an open access journal in the public domain. All content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. In accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative
• First Published: First published in Emerging Infectious Diseases 22(12): 2097-2103
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license