Pyrosequencing Bacillus anthracis.

Pyrosequencing technology is a sequencing method that screens DNA nucleotide incorporation in real time. A set of coupled enzymatic reactions, together with bioluminescence, detects incorporated nucleotides in the form of light pulses, which produces a profile of characteristic peaks in a pyrogram. We used this technology to identify the warfare agent Bacillus anthracis by sequencing 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the rpoB gene as chromosomal markers for B.

Salmonella in Black-headed gulls ( Larus ridibundus); prevalence, genotypes and influence on Salmonella epidemiology.

During a period of 3 years, 1998-2000, 1047 faecal swabs from Black-headed gulls were sampled at one location in Southern Sweden. Salmonella spp. was found in 28 individuals (2.

Travel-associated non-typhoidal salmonellosis: geographical and seasonal differences and serotype distribution.

The Swedish database on notifiable communicable diseases was used to identify 24 803 cases of travel-associated non-typhoidal salmonellosis from the period 1997-2003. Serotype data were available for 24 358 (98.2%) of these cases, which were compared with a data set from the same period of 16 255 randomly selected Swedish residents with a history of recent overnight travel outside Sweden.

[Anthrax--the Swedish perspective].

The recent occurrence in the USA of deliberate release of virulent Bacillus anthracis in letters sent to three media corporations and to the American senate has led to a great anxiety in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. Numerous letters have been suspected to contain B. anthracis spores and several have contained powder of different types.