Genotypic diversity of Coxiella burnetii in the 2007-2010 Q fever outbreak episodes in The Netherlands

Abstract

The genotypic diversity of Coxiella burnetii in clinical samples obtained from the Dutch Q fever outbreak episodes of 2007-2010 was determined by using a 6-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis panel. The results are consistent with the introduction of one founder genotype that is gradually diversifying over time while spreading throughout The Netherlands.

Fig 1

Geographical distribution and relationship between Dutch C. burnetii genotypes from humans. (A) Geographical locations of the MLVA genotypes obtained from the 2007-2010 outbreak. Syllables correspond to the genotypes identified in Table 1. (B) Minimum spanning tree showing the relationship between the obtained MLVA genotypes identified in this study. Only full MLVA genotypes obtained from clinical samples were included in this analysis. Additionally, the genotypes from five sequenced C. burnetii strains, i.e., Dugway (GenBank accession number CP000733), RSA331 (CP000890), Nine Mile RSA493 (AE016828), CbuG Q212 (CP001019), and CbuK Q154 (CP001020) were included. Each circle represents a unique genotype, and the size of the circle corresponds to the number of samples with that genotype. Branch labels and connecting lines correspond to the number of different markers between the genotypes. Genotypes connected by a gray background differ in only one marker from each other and may represent microvariants of one founder genotype.