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. 2016 Apr;22(4):625-33.
doi: 10.3201/eid2204.150998.

Molecular Typing and Epidemiology of Human Listeriosis Cases, Denmark, 2002-2012

Anne Kvistholm Jensen, Jonas T Björkman, Steen Ethelberg, Kristoffer Kiil, Michael Kemp, Eva Møller Nielsen

Molecular Typing and Epidemiology of Human Listeriosis Cases, Denmark, 2002-2012

Anne Kvistholm Jensen et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

Denmark has a high incidence of invasive listeriosis (0.9 cases/100,000 population in 2012). We analyzed patient data, clinical outcome, and trends in pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated in Denmark during 2002-2012. We performed 2-enzyme PFGE and serotyping on 559 isolates and MLST on 92 isolates and identified some correlation between molecular type and clinical outcome and patient characteristics. We found 178 different PFGE types, but isolates from 122 cases belonged to just 2 closely related PFGE types, clonal complex 8 and sequence type 8. These 2 types were the main cause of a peak in incidence of invasive listeriosis during 2005-2009, possibly representing an outbreak or the presence of a highly prevalent clone. However, current typing methods could not fully confirm these possibilities, highlighting the need for more refined discriminatory typing methods to identify outbreaks within frequently occurring L. monocytogenes PFGE types.

Keywords: Denmark; Listeria monocytogenes; bacteria; epidemiology; foodborne diseases; humans; listeriosis; molecular epidemiology; multilocus sequence typing; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; zoonoses.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of pulsotypes of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from humans with listeriosis, Denmark, 2002–2012.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles with AscI (A) and ApaI (B) restriction enzymes of the 2 most common pulsotypes, 40–42 and 38–48, in Denmark, 2002–2012. A) Lane 1, pulsotype 38–48, GX6A16.0038 DK; lane 2, pulsotype 40–42, GX6A16.0040; lane 3, markers. B) Lane 1, pulsotype 38–48, GX6A12.0048 DK; lane 2, pulsotype 40–42, GX6A12.0042 DK; lane 3, markers. Both pulsotypes belong to clonal complex 8.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of lineages of Listeria monocytogenes isolates by disease manifestation, Denmark, 2002–2012. Only blood stream infections (BSIs) and central nervous system (CNS) infections are shown. For BSIs, the distribution by age is also shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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