Wave 2 strains of atypical Vibrio cholerae El Tor caused the 2009-2011 cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea

Andrew R Greenhill; Ankur Mutreja; Dieter Bulach; Matthew J Belousoff; Marinjho H Jonduo; Deirdre A Collins; Monalisa P Kas; Johanna Wapling; Torsten Seemann; Alice Lafana; Gordon Dougan; Mark V Brown; Paul F Horwood

doi:10.1099/mgen.0.000256

Wave 2 strains of atypical Vibrio cholerae El Tor caused the 2009-2011 cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea

Microb Genom. 2019 Mar;5(3):e000256. doi: 10.1099/mgen.0.000256. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Authors

Andrew R Greenhill^{1

2}, Ankur Mutreja^{3

4}, Dieter Bulach^{5

6}, Matthew J Belousoff⁶, Marinjho H Jonduo², Deirdre A Collins^{2

7}, Monalisa P Kas², Johanna Wapling², Torsten Seemann⁵, Alice Lafana², Gordon Dougan³, Mark V Brown⁸, Paul F Horwood^{2

9}

Affiliations

¹ 2School of Health and Life Sciences, Federation University Australia, Churchill, Australia.
² 1Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
³ 3Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ 4Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ 5Melbourne Bioinformatics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
⁶ 6Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia.
⁷ 7School of Medicinal and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
⁸ 8School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
⁹ 9Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.

Abstract

Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, a globally important human disease for at least 200 years. In 2009-2011, the first recorded cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea (PNG) occurred. We conducted genetic and phenotypic characterization of 21 isolates of V. cholerae, with whole-genome sequencing conducted on 2 representative isolates. The PNG outbreak was caused by an atypical El Tor strain harbouring a tandem repeat of the CTX prophage on chromosome II. Whole-genome sequence data, prophage structural analysis and the absence of the SXT integrative conjugative element was indicative that the PNG isolates were most closely related to strains previously isolated in South-East and East Asia with affiliations to global wave 2 strains. This finding suggests that the cholera outbreak in PNG was caused by an exotic (non-endemic) strain of V. cholerae that originated in South-East Asia.

Keywords: Asia; O1; Oceania; Pacific; V. Cholerae; cholera.

MeSH terms

Cholera / epidemiology*
Cholera / microbiology*
Disease Outbreaks
Genetic Variation
Genome, Bacterial
Humans
Papua New Guinea / epidemiology
Prophages
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Vibrio cholerae / genetics*
Vibrio cholerae / isolation & purification*
Whole Genome Sequencing