Molecular typing of a Legionella pneumophila outbreak in Ontario, Canada.
An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a long-term care facility in Ontario, Canada from September to October 2005 resulted in the death of 23 residents and the illness of 112 other people. In response, molecular methods were developed to detect Legionella pneumophila in clinical lung samples and to subtype isolates from clinical and environmental samples. The targeted genetic loci included Legionella-specific virulence determinants (mip, icmO, sidA and lidA) and core bacterial determinants (ftsZ, trpS and dnaX). An established amplified fragment length polymorphism typing method provided the first indication of genetic relatedness between strains recovered from clinical samples and strains cultured from environmental samples taken from the outbreak site. These associations were verified using the European Working Group for Legionella Infections sequence-based typing protocol targeting the flaA, pilE, asd, mip, mompS and proA loci. These molecular typing methods confirmed the outbreak source as a contaminated air conditioning cooling tower.
Gilmour
Matthew W
MW
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.|National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Bernard
Kathryn
K
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.|National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Tracz
Dobryan M
DM
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Olson
Adam B
AB
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Corbett
Cindi R
CR
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Burdz
Tamara
T
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Ng
Betty
B
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Wiebe
Deborah
D
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Broukhanski
George
G
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Boleszczuk
Peter
P
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tang
Patrick
P
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jamieson
Frances
F
Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Van Domselaar
Gary
G
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Plummer
Francis A
FA
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.|National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
Berry
Jody D
JD
National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada.
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007876:Legionellosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D037521:Virulence Factors