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. 2016 Jun 14;11(6):e0157496.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157496. eCollection 2016.

Phylogenetic Characteristics of Anthrax Outbreaks in Liaoning Province, China, 2001-2015

Affiliations

Phylogenetic Characteristics of Anthrax Outbreaks in Liaoning Province, China, 2001-2015

Lingling Mao et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Anthrax is a continuous threat in China, especially in rural regions. In July 2015, an anthrax outbreak occurred in Xifeng County, Liaoning Province. A total of 10 cutaneous anthrax cases were reported, with 210 people under medical observation. In this study, the general characteristics of human anthrax outbreak occurred in Liaoning Province were described, and all cases were caused by butchering and contacting sick animal. Meanwhile, the phylogenetic relationship between outbreak-related isolates/samples of the year 2015 and previous Bacillus anthracis strains was analyzed by means of canonical single nucleotide polymorphisms (canSNP), multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) with 15 markers and single-nucleotide repeats (SNR) analysis. There are two canSNP subgroups found in Liaoning, A.Br.001/002 and A.Br.Ames, and a total of six MLVA 15 genotypes and five SNR genotypes were observed. The strain collected from anthrax outbreak in Xifeng County in 2015 was classified as A.Br.001/002 subgroup and identified as MLVA15-29 genotype, with same SNR profile (CL10: 17, CL12: 15, CL33: 29, and CL35: 13). So we conclude that the same clone of B.anthracis caused the anthrax outbreak in Xifeng County in 2015, and this clone is different to previous isolates. Strengthening public health education in China is one of the most important measures to prevent and control anthrax.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Exposure and onset time of the 10 confirmed cases in Xifeng County, Liaoning Province.
There are three colors represent the exposure and onset time of the 10 confirmed cases from three events. The event in red: from July 5 to 11, sick cattle were slaughtered and there were 7 cases associated with the event. The event in orange: slaughtering sick goat happened on July 16, and one case appeared on July 19. The event in purple: a sick mule was slaughtered on July 21, and that caused 2 cases on July 23.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Dendrogram of MLVA15 among isolates collected from Liaoning Province and other regions.

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