Clinical Science and Epidemiology
- Editor's Pick Observation | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyFirst Detection of Bat White-Nose Syndrome in Western North America
White-nose syndrome (WNS) represents one of the most consequential wildlife diseases of modern times. Since it was first documented in New York in 2006, the disease has killed millions of bats and threatens several formerly abundant species with extirpation or extinction. The spread of WNS in eastern North America has been relatively gradual, inducing optimism that disease mitigation strategies could be established in time to conserve...
- Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyPopulation Genomics of Reduced Vancomycin Susceptibility in Staphylococcus aureus
The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens are two of the gravest threats to public health facing the world today. We report the development and application of a novel population genomic technique aimed at uncovering the evolutionary dynamics and genetic determinants of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. This method was...
- Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologySeparate F-Type Plasmids Have Shaped the Evolution of the H30 Subclone of Escherichia coli Sequence Type 131
A clonal lineage of Escherichia coli known as ST131 has emerged as a dominating strain type causing extraintestinal infections in humans. The evolutionary history of ST131 E. coli is now well understood. However, the role of plasmids in ST131’s evolutionary history is poorly defined. This study...
- Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyPhylogenomic Analysis Reveals an Asian Origin for African Burkholderia pseudomallei and Further Supports Melioidosis Endemicity in Africa
Sporadic melioidosis cases have been reported in the African mainland and Indian Ocean islands, but until recently, these regions were not considered areas where B. pseudomallei is endemic. Given the high mortality rate of melioidosis, it is crucial that this disease be recognized and suspected in all regions of endemicity. Previous work has shown that...
- Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyNew Monoclonal Antibodies against a Novel Subtype of Shiga Toxin 1 Produced by Enterobacter cloacae and Their Use in Analysis of Human Serum
Stxs are among the most clinically important virulence factors of Shigella and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. There are many varieties of Stx, and although Stx1a and Stx2a are the most common and widely distributed types of Stx, new variants of Stx are continually emerging. These new variants of Stx can be challenging to detect, since most Stx detection...
- Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologySSTAR, a Stand-Alone Easy-To-Use Antimicrobial Resistance Gene Predictor
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is quickly becoming a routine method for identifying genes associated with antimicrobial resistance (AR). However, for many microbiologists, the use and analysis of WGS data present a substantial challenge. We developed SSTAR, software with a graphical user interface that enables the identification of known AR genes from WGS and has the unique capacity to easily detect new variants of known AR genes,...