You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. Michael Jordan
Idea Transcript
Foodborne Yersinia
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
Saija Hallanvuo
Saija Hallanvuo
Saija Hallanvuo
Foodborne Yersinia
Identification and molecular epidemiology of isolates from human infections
Identification and molecular epidemiology of isolates from human infections Foodborne Yersinia
Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis are among the major foodborne enteropathogenic bacteria causing infections in humans in many industrialized countries. During 1997–2008, Y. pseudotuberculosis caused 10 outbreaks of infections in Finland. Y. enterocolitica, on the contrary, has mostly caused very many sporadic human infections. Among pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, the global predominance of one genetically homogeneous type (bioserotype 4/O:3) is a challenge to the development of discriminatory epidemiological typing methods. Furthermore, clinical laboratories easily misidentify some other members of the Yersinia species as Y. enterocolitica, which is misleading with regard to the prevalence and clinical significance of various Yersinia isolates. In this study, a Y. pseudotuberculosis outbreak was linked to a specific food item, iceberg lettuce, and thus foodborne transmission of human infections was epidemiologically demonstrated. PFGE genotyping data about the outbreak and sporadic strains of Y. pseudotuberculosis was obtained. The simplified phenotypic methods developed were helpful in the identification of Y. enterocolitica strains. A novel epidemiological YeO:3RS genotyping method developed for Y. enterocolitica was able to increase the discrimination obtained by PFGE in a set of bioserotype 4/O:3 strains.