Group B <i>Streptococcus</i> Infections Caused by Improper Sourcing and Handling of Fish for Raw Consumption, Singapore, 2015–2016

Chau, Man Ling; Chen, Swaine L.; Yap, Min; Hartantyo, Sri Harminda Pahm; Chiew, Paul K.T.; Fernandez, Charlene Judith; Wong, Wai Kwan; Fong, Rockey K.; Tan, Wei Ling; Tan, Brian Zi Yan; Ng, Youming; Aung, Kyaw Thu; Mehershahi, Kurosh S.; Goh, Christopher; Kang, Joanne Su Lin; Barkham, Timothy; Leong, Adeline O.K.; Gutiérrez, Ramona Alikiiteaga; Ng, Lee Ching

doi:10.3201/eid2312.170596

Cited by 34 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Academic projects implemented prior to 2018 were primarily independent and one-off. (35,46,47) With the announcement of the National Strategic Action Plan against AMR, however, representatives of the MOH, AVA, NEA and PUB have made an effort to initiate AMR surveillance in the animal, food and environmental sectors, and this information will be incorporated into a joint 'One Health' report along with the NARCC annual reports in the near future.…”

Section: Local Surveillancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ten-year narrative review on antimicrobial resistance in Singapore

Chua¹,

Kwa²,

Tan³

et al. 2019

smedj

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) results in drug-resistant infections that are harder to treat, subsequently leading to increased morbidity and mortality. In 2008, we reviewed the problem of AMR in Singapore, limiting our discussion to the human healthcare sector. Ten years later, we revisit this issue again, reviewing current efforts to contain it in order to understand the progress made as well as current and emerging challenges. Although a significant amount of work has been done to control AMR and improve antibiotic prescribing in Singapore, most of it has focused on the hospital setting, with mixed impact. The role of antibiotic use and AMR in food animals and the environment-and the link to human health-is better understood today. This issue of AMR encompasses both human health as well as animal/food safety, and efforts to control it will need to continually evolve to maintain or improve on current gains.

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Section: Local Surveillancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ten-year narrative review on antimicrobial resistance in Singapore

Chua¹,

Kwa²,

Tan³

et al. 2019

smedj

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Importantly, there is no evidence of fish viruses causing human disease or establishing a productive infection, which largely reflects the phylogenetic distance between fish and humans, along with major differences in cell types and cell receptors. However, the frequency with which plant viruses are found in human faecal samples provides compelling evidence for the passive transmission of viruses through food ( Chau et al. 2017 ) and the consumption of raw fish has been associated with bacterial (group B Streptococcus ) disease in humans ( Zhang et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden diversity and evolution of viruses in market fish

et al. 2018

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Aquaculture is the fastest growing industry worldwide. Aquatic diseases have had enormous economic and environmental impacts in the recent past and the emergence of new aquatic pathogens, particularly viruses, poses a continuous threat. Nevertheless, little is known about the diversity, abundance and evolution of fish viruses. We used a meta-transcriptomic approach to help determine the virome of seemingly healthy fish sold at a market in Sydney, Australia. Specifically, by identifying and quantifying virus transcripts we aimed to determine (i) the abundance of viruses in market fish, (ii) test a key component of epidemiological theory that large and dense host populations harbour a greater number of viruses compared to their more solitary counterparts and (iii) reveal the relative roles of virus–host co-divergence and cross-species transmission in the evolution of fish viruses. The species studied comprised both shoaling fish—eastern sea garfish (Hyporhamphus australis) and Australasian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus)—and more solitary fish—eastern red scorpionfish (Scorpaena jacksoniensis) and largetooth flounder (Pseudorhombus arsius). Our analysis identified twelve potentially novel viruses, eight of which were likely vertebrate-associated across four viral families and that exhibited frequent cross-species transmission. Notably, the most solitary of the fish species studied, the largetooth flounder, harboured the least number of viruses while eastern sea garfish, a densely shoaling fish, had the highest number of viruses. These results support the emerging view that fish harbour a large and largely uncharacterised virome.

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“…GBS is also recognized as an emerging pathogen in adults that is associated with high fatality rates, reaching 15% in high-income countries [13][14][15]. Adult GBS infections are often associated with underlying co-morbidities, but a recent foodborne outbreak of invasive ST283 GBS disease in Singapore was linked to the consumption of raw fish and occurred in previously healthy adults [16,17]. Despite some level of host adaptation, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Galleria mellonella as an infection model for the multi-host pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae reflects hypervirulence of strains associated with human invasive disease

et al. 2019

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Streptococcus agalactiae, or group B Streptococcus (GBS), infects diverse hosts including humans and economically important species such as cattle and fishes. In the context of human health, GBS is a major cause of neonatal infections and an emerging cause of invasive disease in adults and of foodborne disease in Southeast Asia. Here we show that GBS is able to establish a systemic infection in Galleria mellonella larvae that is associated with extensive bacterial replication and dose-dependent larval survival. This infection model is suitable for use with GBS isolates from both homeothermic and poikilothermic hosts. Hypervirulent sequence types (ST) associated with invasive human disease in neonates (ST17) or adults (ST283) show increased virulence in this model, indicating it may be useful in studying GBS virulence determinants, albeit with limitations for some host-specific virulence factors. In addition, we demonstrate that larval survival can be afforded by antibiotic treatment and so the model may also be useful in the development of novel anti-GBS strategies. The use of G. mellonella in GBS research has the potential to provide a low-cost infection model that could reduce the number of vertebrates used in the study of GBS infection.

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Group B Streptococcus Infections Caused by Improper Sourcing and Handling of Fish for Raw Consumption, Singapore, 2015–2016

Abstract: Policies and guidelines regarding sale of ready-to-eat raw fish dishes have been updated.

Cited by 34 publications

References 17 publications

Ten-year narrative review on antimicrobial resistance in Singapore

Ten-year narrative review on antimicrobial resistance in Singapore

Hidden diversity and evolution of viruses in market fish

Galleria mellonella as an infection model for the multi-host pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae reflects hypervirulence of strains associated with human invasive disease

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