Identification of the Source of Francisella tularensis Infection by Multiple-Locus Variable-Number Tandem Repeat Analysis

Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases

Akio Yamada¹  Shigeyuki Asano⁴  Hiromi Fujita⁵  Kiyoshi Tanabayashi²  Akihiko Uda²  Akitoyo Hotta²  Fumiaki Shinya³  Osamu Fujita²  Shigeru Morikawa²  Yoshie Yamamoto² 

[1] Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo;Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases;Department of Pathology, Iwaki Kyoritsu General Hospital;Department of Surgery, Iwaki Kyoritsu General Hospital;Fujita Health University

关键词: Francisella tularensis;    tularemia;    transmission;    multi-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA);   

DOI  :  10.7883/yoken.66.543

学科分类：传染病学

来源: National Institute of Infectious Diseases

【 摘 要 】

References(18)Cited-By(3)Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by Francisella tularensis. Most patients in Japan have reportedly acquired such infections through direct contact with infected Japanese hares. We recently encountered a patient who contracted tularemia after skinning and butchering a dead hare. Because the remains of the hare were available, we attempted to determine whether the patient actually contracted infection by handling the carcass. F. tularensis-specific sequences were successfully amplified by PCR from the patient specimens as well as from the remnants of discarded hare carcass. PCR amplification of the ISFtu2 and RD1 regions indicated infection by F. tularensis subsp. holarctica, which was considered as a prevalent strain in Japan. Furthermore, high-resolution multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) showed that the combination of repeat numbers in sequences from the patient and hare were indistinguishable, thus indicating that the patient had been infected with F. tularensis strain that had also infected the hare. These findings demonstrated that MLVA is a useful epidemiological investigational tool to identify possible sources of certain zoonotic diseases such as tularemia.

【 授权许可】

Unknown