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PLOS Papers On Tsetse Fly Populations, E. Coli Clinical Isolates, Pathogenic Salmonella

Researchers from Kenya and the US profile tsetse fly population genetics for a paper in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The team genotyped 600 tsetse fly (Glossina pallidipes) individuals from 21 sampling sites in Kenya and northern Tanzania at 11 microsatellite markers, using phylogeographic analyses and other approaches to identify genetically separate populations of the human disease vector flies when moving east to west across the Great Rift Valley. The tsetse fly populations showed still other, more subtle genetic differences in the northwestern parts of the area compared to those in the southwest, Serengeti area. From these and other findings, the authors describe "strong regional separation of tetse fly populations," prompting them to call for "tsetse control strategies that are coordinated for each genetic cluster, and monitoring schemes that demarcate genetic clusters."

A team from India and the UK present findings from a genomic study of Escherichia coli isolates obtained from Indian individuals with bloodstream infections. As they report in PLOS One, the researchers did whole-genome sequencing, multi-locus sequence typing, and other analyses on 60 multi-drug-resistant clinical isolates of E. coli for the comparative analysis, identifying the virulence genes, antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, and evolving drug resistance clones found in India, which was home to both established and emerging multi-drug resistant sequence types. The authors suggest the data "will provide public health agencies with baseline information on [antimicrobial resistance] and virulent genes in pathogenic E. coli in the region."

For another paper in PLOS One, researchers from Australia and the UK report on results from a genomic analysis of a pathogenic serovar of Salmonella enterica that appears to be on the rise in Australia's New South Wales. Using whole-genome sequencing, multilocus sequence typing, phylogenetics, and other approaches, the team assessed almost 100 S. enterica serovar Wangata isolates from human, animal, and environmental sources — including a handful of international isolates and 84 isolates from an outbreak in New South Wales in late 2016 and early 2017. The analysis pointed to a possible international transmission of the bug in the past, while highlighting the overall genomic similarity between isolates from different places and host animals. "Results from this study support epidemiological evidence generated during the outbreak investigation that [S. enterica serovar Wangata] is shared by humans, domestic animals, wildlife, and the environment," they write.