Lau Susanna K P, Wu Alan K L, Teng Jade L L, Tse Herman, Curreem Shirly O T, Tsui Stephen K W, Huang Yi, Chen Jonathan H K, Lee Rodney A, Yuen Kwok-Yung, Woo Patrick C Y
Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 Feb;21(2):232-41. doi: 10.3201/eid2102.140623.
Elizabethkingia anophelis, recently discovered from mosquito gut, is an emerging bacterium associated with neonatal meningitis and nosocomial outbreaks. However, its transmission route remains unknown. We use rapid genome sequencing to investigate 3 cases of E. anophelis sepsis involving 2 neonates who had meningitis and 1 neonate's mother who had chorioamnionitis. Comparative genomics revealed evidence for perinatal vertical transmission from a mother to her neonate; the 2 isolates from these patients, HKU37 and HKU38, shared essentially identical genome sequences. In contrast, the strain from another neonate (HKU36) was genetically divergent, showing only 78.6% genome sequence identity to HKU37 and HKU38, thus excluding a clonal outbreak. Comparison to genomes from mosquito strains revealed potential metabolic adaptations in E. anophelis under different environments. Maternal infection, not mosquitoes, is most likely the source of neonatal E. anophelis infections. Our findings highlight the power of genome sequencing in gaining rapid insights on transmission and pathogenesis of emerging pathogens.
嗜蚊伊氏菌最近从蚊子肠道中被发现，是一种与新生儿脑膜炎和医院感染暴发相关的新出现细菌。然而，其传播途径仍不清楚。我们使用快速基因组测序来调查3例嗜蚊伊氏菌败血症病例，其中包括2例患有脑膜炎的新生儿和1例患有绒毛膜羊膜炎的新生儿母亲。比较基因组学揭示了从母亲到其新生儿的围产期垂直传播的证据；从这些患者分离出的2株菌株HKU37和HKU38具有基本相同的基因组序列。相比之下，来自另一名新生儿（HKU36）的菌株在基因上存在差异，与HKU37和HKU38的基因组序列同一性仅为78.6%，因此排除了克隆性暴发。与蚊子菌株的基因组比较揭示了嗜蚊伊氏菌在不同环境下潜在的代谢适应性。母亲感染而非蚊子很可能是新生儿嗜蚊伊氏菌感染的来源。我们的研究结果凸显了基因组测序在快速洞察新出现病原体的传播和发病机制方面的作用。
