Emergence and Molecular Epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni ST-2993 Associated with a Large Outbreak of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in Peru
Willi Quino, Junior Caro-Castro, Orson Mestanza, Verónica Hurtado, María Luz Zamudio, Gloría Cruz-Gonzales, Ronnie G. Gavilán
Abstract
This article describes the molecular epidemiology of C. jejuni strains (ST-2993) associated with a large Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) outbreak in Peru, sequencing several strains recovered from GBS patients and chickens from 2019 to 2020. Phylogenetic analysis showed a connection between Peruvian and Chinese GBS strains, both of them having lipooligosaccharides (LOS) locus genes related to molecular mimicry with gangliosides in peripheral nerves. Also, ST-2993 strains were detected in isolates recovered many years before the 2019 outbreak, but with no epidemiological connection with GBS. Besides, a close relationship between human and chicken strains indicated those animals as a probable reservoir. This information will help to understand the real situation of GBS in Peru and its causal agent, C. jejuni ST-2993, showing the necessity to increase epidemiological tracking of these kinds of pathogens to detect them and avoid GBS outbreaks in the future.