TY - JOUR

T1 - Whole genome sequencing data used for surveillance of Campylobacter infections

T2 - Detection of a large continuous outbreak, Denmark, 2019

AU - Joensen, Katrine Grimstrup

AU - Schjørring, Susanne

AU - Gantzhorn, Mette Rørbak

AU - Vester, Camilla Thougaard

AU - Nielsen, Hans Linde

AU - Engberg, Jørgen Harald

AU - Holt, Hanne Marie

AU - Ethelberg, Steen

AU - Muller, Luise

AU - Sandø, Gudrun

AU - Nielsen, Eva Møller

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). All rights reserved.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Background: Campylobacter is one of the most frequent causes of bacterial gastroenteritis. Campylo bacter outbreaks are rarely reported, which could be a reflection of a surveillance without routine molecular typing. We have previously shown that numerous small outbreak-like clusters can be detected when whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of clinical Campylobacter isolates was applied. Aim: Typingbased surveillance of Campylobacter infections was initiated in 2019 to enable detection of large clusters of clinical isolates and to match them to concurrent retail chicken isolates in order to react on ongoing outbreaks. Methods: We performed WGS continuously on isolates from cases (n = 701) and chicken meat (n = 164) throughout 2019. Core genome multilocus sequence typing was used to detect clusters of clinical isolates and match them to isolates from chicken meat. Results: Seventy-two clusters were detected, 58 small clusters (2-4 cases) and 14 large clusters (5-91 cases). One third of the clinical isolates matched isolates from chicken meat. One large cluster persisted throughout the whole year and represented 12% of all studied Campylobacter cases. This cluster type was detected in several chicken samples and was traced back to one slaughterhouse, where interventions were implemented to control the outbreak. Conclusion: Our WGS-based surveillance has contributed to an improved understanding of the dynamics of the occurrence of Campylobacter strains in chicken meat and the correlation to clusters of human cases.

AB - Background: Campylobacter is one of the most frequent causes of bacterial gastroenteritis. Campylo bacter outbreaks are rarely reported, which could be a reflection of a surveillance without routine molecular typing. We have previously shown that numerous small outbreak-like clusters can be detected when whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of clinical Campylobacter isolates was applied. Aim: Typingbased surveillance of Campylobacter infections was initiated in 2019 to enable detection of large clusters of clinical isolates and to match them to concurrent retail chicken isolates in order to react on ongoing outbreaks. Methods: We performed WGS continuously on isolates from cases (n = 701) and chicken meat (n = 164) throughout 2019. Core genome multilocus sequence typing was used to detect clusters of clinical isolates and match them to isolates from chicken meat. Results: Seventy-two clusters were detected, 58 small clusters (2-4 cases) and 14 large clusters (5-91 cases). One third of the clinical isolates matched isolates from chicken meat. One large cluster persisted throughout the whole year and represented 12% of all studied Campylobacter cases. This cluster type was detected in several chicken samples and was traced back to one slaughterhouse, where interventions were implemented to control the outbreak. Conclusion: Our WGS-based surveillance has contributed to an improved understanding of the dynamics of the occurrence of Campylobacter strains in chicken meat and the correlation to clusters of human cases.

U2 - 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.22.2001396

DO - 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.22.2001396

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34085631

AN - SCOPUS:85107614963

VL - 26

JO - Eurosurveillance

JF - Eurosurveillance

SN - 1025-496X

IS - 22

ER -