Genetic diversity atlas of Brucella melitensis strains from Sichuan Province, China.

Human brucellosis is a re-emerging disease in Sichuan Province, China. In this study, bacteriology, conventional bio-typing, multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), and multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) were applied to preliminarily characterize the strains in terms of genetic diversity and epidemiological links. A total of 101 Brucella strains were isolated from 16 cities (autonomous prefectures) from 2014 to 2021, and all of the strains were identified as Brucella melitensis bv.