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26/07/17

Virulent Salmonella strain spotted in Brazil

salmonella bacteria
Copyright: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Speed read

  • Potent Salmonella strain recorded outside Sub-Saharan Africa for first time
  • Unlike African strain, subtype found in Brazil shows no antibiotic resistance
  • But it replicates faster in the body causing severe infection, even death

By:Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade

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[SÃO PAULO] An invasive and virulent strain ofSalmonella伤寒which emerged in Sub-Saharan Africa has been identified elsewhere for the first time, scientists have reported.

The bacteria can cause a severe gut infection with symptoms including fever, nausea and vomiting. It can even cause death.

该菌株被称为ST313，在巴西发现了articlein the July edition of the journalInfection, Genetics and Evolution。

Until now it had been recorded only in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it kills a quarter of people who fall ill, particularly vulnerable patients infected withHIVormalaria，and malnourished children.

“These results should alert [health] authorities in the country, because infections with this bacterium are not subject to mandatory reporting.”

Cristiano Gallina Moreira

Unlike other subtypes ofS.伤寒，ST313 is able to cross from the gut into the bloodstream.

The research team sequenced the genomes of 88 strains ofS.伤寒in the labs of the US Food and Drug Administration. They isolated the strains from stool, blood and brain abscess samples collected from infected people, and also from contaminated foods gathered from across Brazil between 1983 and 2013.

They found the ST313 strain in samples isolated between 1989 and 2003 in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest and richest city.

该小组还证实，与其他人相比，ST313菌株在吞噬细胞（保护人体免受感染的细胞）中侵入和复制Salmonellavarieties.

Biomedical scientist Fernanda Almeida, from University of São Paulo’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto (FCFRP-USP) and lead author of the research, says that, unlike the African strain, the new strain does not show signs of antibiotic resistance. “But the Brazilian ST313 is much more aggressive and invasive, which is a problem,” she toldSciDev.Net。

S.伤寒is one of the main causes of gastroenteritis globally. It can infect livestock such as pigs and lambs, and people can get infected by eating contaminated or improperly cooked meat.

For biologist Cristiano Gallina Moreira, from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at São Paulo State University, the rise of a new strain ofS.伤寒in Brazil is “very worrying”.

“These results should alert [health] authorities in the country, because infections with this bacterium are not subject to mandatory reporting [in Brazil],” he warns.

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According to Vanessa Sperandio, a biochemist from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the United States, sequencing the ST313 genome will help to accelerate diagnosis ofSalmonellainfections and more efficiently control potential outbreaks of thedisease。

But she pointed out that although thisSalmonella压力比其他人要危险得多，由于投资回报率较低，制药公司不太可能开发疫苗。

The research, published in the journalInfection, Genetics and Evolution,was supported by FAPESP, a SciDev.Net donor.