Molecular epidemiological study of Salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi B infections imported from Turkey to Western Norway.
During the summer of 1999, several Norwegian tourists returning from Turkey became ill as a result of Salmonella enterica serovar paratyphi B (S. paratyphi B) infection. We examined the S. paratyphi B isolates from 14 of these patients (10 from blood cultures, 4 from stool specimens) who were admitted to 2 hospitals in Bergen, Norway during August and September 1999. Moreover, during the same period, a laboratory technician working at 1 of these hospitals was admitted with S. paratyphi B septicemia and was included in the study. Using repetitive-sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) with 2 primer pairs (ERIC and REP), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and phage typing we found that the laboratory technician was infected with the same S. paratyphi B clone as the 14 tourists. The discriminatory capacity of the rep-PCR method and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was examined using S. paratyphi B strains from the outbreak and from other geographical locations. We conclude that a combination of rep-PCR with the ERIC primer pair and phage typing was useful in discriminating between the epidemic isolates and epidemiologically unrelated isolates from S. paratyphi B infections and that the laboratory technician was most likely infected while handling patient samples or bacterial cultures from the Turkish tourists.
Grewal
Harleen M S
HM
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen, Norway. Harleen.Grewal@cih.uib.no
Jureen
Roland
R
Steinsland
Hans
H
Digranes
Asbjørn
A
D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006801:Humans; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010284:Paratyphoid Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000235:genetics; D012484:Salmonella paratyphi B / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014195:Travel; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology