Genetic adaptation of non-typhoid Salmonella within human and animal reservoirs in sub-Sahara Africa

• Applicants: Dr. Denise Dekker; Privatdozent Dr. Daniel Eibach; Professorin Dr. Antje Flieger
• Subject Area: Medical Microbiology and Mycology, Hygiene, Molecular Infection Biology
• Term: from 2018 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 380545990

Salmonella enterica causes more than 1.2 million annual deaths worldwide, the majority occurring in resource-poor countries. Salmonella infections other than Typhoid fever, so-called non-typhoid Salmonella (NTS), are usually limited to gastrointestinal disease in industrialized countries. In contrast, in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), NTS are the most frequent cause of bacterial bloodstream infections in both adults and children. While in industrialized countries, infections with NTS are typically of zoonotic origin this coudl not be confirmed for NTS starisn from SSA suggesting anthroponotic transmission as the major transmission route. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of human invasive Salmonella strongly suggests that the Salmonella genome has evolved and adapted within specific hosts supporting the hypothesis of possible anthroponotic transmission of the recently evolved African NTS strains. So far, genome comparisons of human and zoonotic Salmonella isolates from SSA have not been conducted. There is an important information gap, which urgently needs to be filled to understand infection reservoirs, Salmonella host adaptation and transmission pathways in order to devise effective management and control strategies. This study aims to identify Samonella enterica in sick and healthy children and in livestock animals to identify tranmssion reservoirs and adaptation of Salmonella to the host by whole genome sequencing. In addition an Exome anylsis shall be performed from children with invasive salmonelloses and their parents in order to detect risk variants that will help to identify relevant metabolic pathways.The overall objectives are as follows:•to determine the frequency of NTS from animal and human sources;•to detect differences in the genomes of the collected Salmonella isolates using whole genome sequencing;•to detect host genetic susceptibility to invasive Salmonella disease;•to determine socio-economic consequences of iNTS and enteric NTS infections (eNTS);•to strengthen the scientific network within the African- and African-German partners and support professional career development of African scientists including North-South and South-South exchange of personnel.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Ghana, Tanzania
• Co-Investigators: Professorin Dr. Linda Falgenhauer; Dr. Angelika Fruth; Dr. Benedikt Hogan; Dr. Can Imirzalioglu; Dr. Ralf Krumkamp, Ph.D.; Wibke Loag; Professor Dr. Jürgen May; Dr. Sandra Simon
• Cooperation Partner: Edwin Liheluka
• International Co-Applicants: Dr. Samwel Gesase; Professor Dr. John Lusingu; Dr. Daniel Minja; Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso; Dr. Linda Aurelia Ofori; Dr. Nimako Sarpong