Open AccessGenetic source tracking of human plague cases in Inner Mongolia-Beijing, 2019
Author(s) -
Jianyun Li,
Yumeng Wang,
Fang Liu,
Xiaona Shen,
Yi-Ting Wang,
Miao Fan,
Yunyan Peng,
Shuyi Wang,
Yilan Feng,
Wen Zhang,
Yanning Lv,
Huijuan Zhang,
Xin Lü,
Enmin Zhang,
Jianchun Wei,
Lijuan Chen,
Biao Kan,
Zhongbing Zhang,
Jianguo Xu,
Wenrui Wang,
Wei Li
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos neglected tropical diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.99
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1935-2735
pISSN - 1935-2727
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009558
Subject(s) - yersinia pestis , plague (disease) , inner mongolia , epizootic , biology , phylogenetic tree , population , molecular epidemiology , genotyping , genetics , zoology , veterinary medicine , virology , genotype , outbreak , medicine , geography , virulence , china , gene , environmental health , archaeology , pathology
On 12 November 2019, one couple from the Sonid Left Qi (County) in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was diagnosed with pneumonic plague in Beijing. The wife acquired the infection from her husband. Thereafter, two bubonic plague cases were identified in Inner Mongolia on November 16 th and 24 th . In this study, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis was used to identify the phylogenetic relationship of Yersinia pestis strains isolated in Inner Mongolia. Strains isolated from reservoirs in 2018 and 2019 in Inner Mongolia, together with the strain isolated from Patient C, were further clustered into 2.MED3m, and two novel lineages (2.MED3q, 2.MED3r) in the 2.MED3 population. According to the analysis of PCR-based molecular subtyping methods, such as the MLVA 14 scheme and seven SNP allele sequencing, Patients A/B and D were classified as 2.MED3m. In addition, strains from rodents living near the patients’ residences were clustered into the same lineage as patients. Such observations indicated that human plague cases originated from local reservoirs. Corresponding phylogenetic analysis also indicated that rodent plague strains in different areas in Inner Mongolia belong to different epizootics rather than being caused by spreading from the same epizootic in Meriones unguiculatus in 2019.