AUTHOR=Tan Qinqin , Wang Yue , Liu Ying , Tao Zhongfa , Yu Chun , Huang Yan , Yang Xinggui , Ying Xia , Hu Yong , Li Shijun 

TITLE=Molecular epidemiological characteristics of Brucella in Guizhou Province, China, from 2009 to 2021

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1188469

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1188469

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Introduction</title><p>Brucellosis was made statutorily notifiable in 1955, in China, while in Guizhou Province, the pathogen of human brucellosis was isolated for the first time in 2011. However, currently, the brucellosis epidemic is becoming more and more severe in Guizhou Province. The type distribution and genetic characteristics of <italic>Brucella</italic> in Guizhou Province, as well as its evolutionary relationship with domestic and foreign strains, are still unclear.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>MLST, MLVA, and <italic>rpoB</italic> typing techniques were used for the molecular epidemiological study of the 83 <italic>Brucella</italic> isolates in Guizhou province.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Among the 83 <italic>Brucella</italic> strains, MLST identified three ST genotypes, of which ST39 is a newly reported type in China. MLVA-16 generated 49 genotypes, and MLVA-11 generated 5 known genotypes and 2 unreported genotypes. Six genotypes were identified by <italic>rpoB</italic> technology.</p></sec><sec><title>Discussion</title><p>MLVA has a high resolution, but differences at the Bruce 04 and 16 loci cannot exclude associations between epidemics, and combining MLST and <italic>rpoB</italic> typing methods for epidemiologic tracing can avoid erroneous judgments. Moreover, through the combined analysis of the three typing techniques, the possible origin of the new <italic>Brucella</italic> can be reasonably inferred, which is also conducive to promoting the subsequent research of the novel <italic>Brucella</italic>.</p></sec>