Strain identity of Bordetella pertussis isolates from household members based on whole‐genome sequencing

Abstract

AbstractWe evaluated the genetic diversity of Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of pertussis, within households by whole‐genome sequencing. In pairwise comparisons of 23 isolates collected from 11 households, single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis revealed extremely low SNP diversity (≤1 SNP) between isolate pairs: no SNPs were detected in 10 households and one SNP was obtained in the remaining household. This SNP was uncommon for B. pertussis and resulted in a nonsynonymous substitution (Ala303Thr) in nicotinate phosphoribosyltransferase. We demonstrated that the same strain is transmitted between household members and that B. pertussis is genomically stable during household transmission.