Beja-Pereira Albano, Bricker Betsy, Chen Shanyuan, Almendra Claudia, White P J, Luikart Gordon
Centro de Investigacao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão (VCD), Portugal.
J Wildl Dis. 2009 Oct;45(4):1174-7. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-45.4.1174.
Identifying the source of infectious disease outbreaks is difficult, especially for pathogens that infect multiple wildlife species. Brucella spp. are among the most problematic zoonotic agents worldwide, and they are notoriously difficult to detect and identify. We genotyped 10 variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) DNA loci in 56 Brucella abortus isolates from bison (Bos bison), elk (Cervus elaphus), and cattle (Bos taurus) to test the wildlife species most likely to be the origin of recent outbreaks of brucellosis in cattle in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Isolates from cattle and elk were nearly identical but highly divergent from bison isolates. These data suggest elk, not bison, are the reservoir species of origin for these cattle infections. This study illustrates the potential power of VNTR genotyping to assess the origin of disease outbreaks, which are increasing worldwide following habitat fragmentation, climate change, and expansion of human and livestock populations.
确定传染病爆发的源头很困难，尤其是对于能感染多种野生动物物种的病原体而言。布鲁氏菌属是全球最具问题的人畜共患病原体之一，而且它们极难被检测和识别。我们对来自美洲野牛（Bos bison）、麋鹿（Cervus elaphus）和牛（Bos taurus）的56株流产布鲁氏菌分离株中的10个可变数目串联重复序列（VNTR）DNA位点进行了基因分型，以测试最有可能是大黄石地区近期牛布鲁氏菌病爆发源头的野生动物物种。来自牛和麋鹿的分离株几乎相同，但与美洲野牛分离株差异很大。这些数据表明，麋鹿而非美洲野牛是这些牛感染的源头宿主物种。这项研究说明了VNTR基因分型在评估疾病爆发源头方面的潜在作用，随着栖息地破碎化、气候变化以及人类和牲畜种群的扩张，疾病爆发在全球范围内正日益增多。
