SIGNIFICANCE OF SEQUENCE TYPE LEVEL VARIATION IN EMERGING BACTERIAL PATHOGEN CRONOBACTER SAKAZAKII LINKED WITH NEONATAL MENINGITIS

Abstract

Cronobacter sakazakii, a species within the genus Cronobacter, family Enterobacteriaceae, is an emerging bacterial pathogen linked with infections in newborn babies. These infections include meningitis, sepsis and bacteraemia with a mortality rate of up to 80%. A Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) scheme has been described for the genus Cronobacter. The MLST scheme has identified one clonal lineage known as C. sakazakii ST4, pre-dominantly linked with neonatal infections and frequently isolated from Powdered Infant Formula (PIF) (Joseph and Forsythe, 2011, Hariri et al. 2013). The project will involve analysis of the Cronobacter PubMLST database to observe Sequence Type (ST) level variation in C. sakazakii and their association with clinical and non-clinical sources.