Correlation between PFGE Groups and mrp/epf/sly Genotypes of Human Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 in Northern Thailand

• Main Authors: Prasit Tharavichitkul, Kanreuthai Wongsawan, Naoki Takenami, Sumalee Pruksakorn, Achara Fongcom, Marcelo Gottschalk, Banyong Khanthawa, Volaluk Supajatura, Shinji Takai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2014-01-01
• Series: Journal of Pathogens
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/350416

Streptococcus suis infection is a severe zoonotic disease commonly found in Northern Thailand where people often consume raw pork and/or pig’s blood. The most frequent clinical presentations are meningitis, sepsis, and endocarditis with higher rate of mortality and hearing loss sequelae. To clarify the correlation between pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) groups and mrp/epf/sly genotypes of S. suis serotype 2, 62 patient and 4 healthy pig isolates from Northern Thailand were studied. By PFGE analysis, at 66% homology, most human isolates (69.4%) and 1 pig isolate were in group A, whereas 14.5% of human isolates and 3 out of 4 pig isolates were in group D. According to mrp/epf/sly genotypes, 80.6% of human isolates were identified in mrp+epf−sly− and only 12.9% were in mrp−epf−sly+ genotypes; in contrast, 1 and 3 pig isolates were detected in these two genotypes, respectively. Interestingly, all isolates of S. suis serotype 2 classified in PFGE groups A, B, and E were set in mrp+epf−sly− genotypes. These data show a close correlation between PFGE groups and mrp/epf/sly genotypes of human S. suis serotype 2.