Data from: Using the wax moth larva Galleria mellonella infection model to detect emerging bacterial pathogens

Climate change, changing farming practices, social and demographic changes
and rising levels of antibiotic resistance are likely to lead to future
increases in opportunistic bacterial infections that are more difficult to
treat. Uncovering the prevalence and identity of pathogenic bacteria in
the environment is key to assessing transmission risks. We describe the
first use of the Wax moth larva Galleria mellonella, a well-established
model for the mammalian innate immune system, to selectively enrich and
characterize pathogens from coastal environments in the South West of the
UK. Whole-genome sequencing of highly virulent isolates revealed amongst
others a Proteus mirabilis strain carrying the Salmonella SGI1 genomic
island not reported from the UK before and the recently described species
Vibrio injenensis hitherto only reported from human patients in Korea. Our
novel method has the power to detect bacterial pathogens in the
environment that potentially pose a serious risk to public health.