In vivo characteristics of B. pertussis epidemic strains in Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province in China

In order to explore the effect of changes in B.pertussis epidemic strains on the re-emergence of B.pertussis, we performed a long-term active enhanced surveillance of whooping cough in Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province in China and isolated four epidemic B.pertussis strains (Named BP-L1 to BP-L4) from suspected cases of pertussis infection. By combining whole-genome sequencing analysis with in vivo RNA-seq and infection models, we found that BP-L1 and BP-L2 strains have unique infection and immune characteristics.