Emerging Infectious Diseases (May 2010)

Historical Distribution and Molecular Diversity of Bacillus anthracis, Kazakhstan

  • Alim M. Aikembayev,
  • Larissa Lukhnova,
  • Gulnara Temiraliyeva,
  • Tatyana Meka-Mechenko,
  • Yerlan Pazylov,
  • Sarkis Zakaryan,
  • Georgiy Denissov,
  • W. Ryan Easterday,
  • Matthew N. Van Ert,
  • Paul Keim,
  • Stephen C. Francesconi,
  • Jason K. Blackburn,
  • Martin Hugh-Jones,
  • Ted Hadfield

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1605.091427
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 5
pp. 789 – 796

Abstract

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To map the distribution of anthrax outbreaks and strain subtypes in Kazakhstan during 1937–2005, we combined geographic information system technology and genetic analysis by using archived cultures and data. Biochemical and genetic tests confirmed the identity of 93 archived cultures in the Kazakhstan National Culture Collection as Bacillus anthracis. Multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis genotyping identified 12 genotypes. Cluster analysis comparing these genotypes with previously published genotypes indicated that most (n = 78) isolates belonged to the previously described A1.a genetic cluster, 6 isolates belonged to the A3.b cluster, and 2 belonged to the A4 cluster. Two genotypes in the collection appeared to represent novel genetic sublineages; 1 of these isolates was from Krygystan. Our data provide a description of the historical, geographic, and genetic diversity of B. anthracis in this Central Asian region.

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