title: Molecular epidemiology of virulent Rhodococcus equi from foals in Brazil: virulence plasmids of 85-kb type I, 87-kb type I, and a new variant, 87-kb type III.
abstract: We investigated the prevalence of virulent Rhodococcus equi in clinical isolates from 41 foals (19 sporadic and seven endemic cases) in Brazil between 1991 and 2003. Of the 41 virulent isolates, six contained an 85-kb type I plasmid, 33 contained an 87-kb type I plasmid, both of which have been found in isolates from the Americas, and the remaining two contained a new variant, which did not display the EcoRI, EcoT22I and BamHI digestion patterns of the 11 representative plasmids already reported (85-kb types I-IV; 87-kb types I and II; 90-kb types I-V). We tentatively designated the new variant as the '87-kb type III' plasmid, because its BamHI digestion pattern is similar to that of the 87-kb type I plasmid. This is the first report of the molecular epidemiology surveillance of virulent R. equi in clinical isolates from Brazilian foals.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases of the Domestic Animals, FMVZ-UNESP/Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcio Garcia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasuoka
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakuda
authors.forename: Yukako
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsubaki
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takai
mesh_terms: D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006736:Horses; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D010957:Plasmids / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D016929:Rhodococcus equi / Q000235:genetics*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics