Streptococcus pyogenes M28 cluster Genome Sequencing. Streptococcus pyogenes serotype M28

Group A ?-haemolytic Streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes or GAS) is the infectious cause of puerperal fever. S. pyogenes is a strictly human pathogen usually found in the skin and throat, and less frequently in the rectum and the female genital tract. GAS of serotype M28 has been associated with recent puerperal sepsis outbreaks, a post-partum pelvic bacterial infection contracted by women after vaginal or abdominal delivery. Between June and November 2010, a concerning rise in the number of puerperal sepsis cases was observed in the New South Wales (NSW) hospital system. Of the GAS isolates recovered from nine patients, emm28.8 GAS were recovered from four of them. To investigate the relatedness of these emm28 isolates, whole genome sequencing was undertaken and the genome sequences compared to that of the emm28.4 reference strain MGAS6180. This study demonstrates the utility of genomic technology for fine scale epidemiological investigation of bacterial infectious disease.