title: Multilocus sequence typing for global surveillance of meningococcal disease.
abstract: The global surveillance of bacterial pathogens is particularly important for bacteria with diverse and dynamic populations that cause periodic epidemics or pandemics. The isolate characterization methods employed for surveillance should: (1) generate unambiguous data; (2) be readily implemented in a variety of scenarios and be reproducible among laboratories; (3) be scalable and preferably available in a high throughput format; and (4) be cost effective. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was designed to meet these criteria and has been implemented effectively for a wide range of microorganisms. The 'Impact of meningococcal epidemiology and population biology on public health in Europe (EU-MenNet)' project had amongst its objectives: (1) to disseminate meningococcal MLST and sequence-based typing throughout Europe by establishing a centre for training and data generation, and (2) to produce a comprehensive Europe-wide picture of meningococcal disease epidemiology for the first time. Data produced from the project have shown the distribution of a relatively small number of STs, clonal complexes and PorA types that account for a large proportion of the disease-associated isolates in Europe. The project demonstrates how molecular typing can be combined with epidemiological data via the Internet for global disease surveillance.
authors.affiliation: The Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research and Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brehony
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jolley
authors.forename: Martin C J
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maiden
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011159:Population Surveillance
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial