title: Comparison of molecular typing methods useful for detecting clusters of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli isolates through routine surveillance.
abstract: Campylobacter spp. may be responsible for unreported outbreaks of food-borne disease. The detection of these outbreaks is made more difficult by the fact that appropriate methods for detecting clusters of Campylobacter have not been well defined. We have compared the characteristics of five molecular typing methods on Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli isolates obtained from human and nonhuman sources during sentinel site surveillance during a 3-year period. Comparative genomic fingerprinting (CGF) appears to be one of the optimal methods for the detection of clusters of cases, and it could be supplemented by the sequencing of the flaA gene short variable region (flaA SVR sequence typing), with or without subsequent multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Different methods may be optimal for uncovering different aspects of source attribution. Finally, the use of several different molecular typing or analysis methods for comparing individuals within a population reveals much more about that population than a single method. Similarly, comparing several different typing methods reveals a great deal about differences in how the methods group individuals within the population.
authors.affiliation: National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Clifford.Clark@phac-aspc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Clifford G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taboada
authors.forename: Christopher C R
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blakeston
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pollari
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rahn
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mackinnon
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daignault
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Lai-King
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D017000:Campylobacter coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods; D058889:Molecular Typing / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial