Locally Confined Clonal Complexes of Mycobacterium ulcerans in Two Buruli Ulcer Endemic Regions of Cameroon.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of the necrotizing skin disease Buruli ulcer (BU), which has been reported from over 30 countries worldwide. The majority of notified patients come from West African countries, such as Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Cameroon. All clinical isolates of M. ulcerans from these countries are closely related and their genomes differ only in a limited number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Methodology/principal findings

We performed a molecular epidemiological study with clinical isolates from patients from two distinct BU endemic regions of Cameroon, the Nyong and the Mapé river basins. Whole genome sequencing of the M. ulcerans strains from these two BU endemic areas revealed the presence of two phylogenetically

SUBMITTER: Bolz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4457821 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature