MULTIPLE LINEAGES OF MULTIRESISTANT SHIGELLA IN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

In developed countries, the burden of shigellosis is either in returning travellers, or in men who have sex with men (MSM). Here, we combine genomic data with comprehensive epidemiological data on sexual exposure and travel to describe the spread of multidrug-resistant Shigella lineages in an urban centre in Australia. We undertook a population-level study of all cultured Shigella isolates in the state of Victoria, Australia between 1 January 2016 through to 31 December 2018. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, whole genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatic analysis of 610 Shigella isolates was performed on all isolates, and long-read sequencing was performed on representative isolates. R..