This revised supplement is responsive to the notice NOT-OD-09-058 entitled: """"""""Enabling RPGs to Leverage NCRR Center and Center-like Programs"""""""".
The aims of this revision are designed to utilize the existing framework of our ongoing R01 entitled: """"""""S. aureus transmission in Northern Manhattan."""""""" The overall goal is to define the importance of strain ST398 as an emerging pathogen in our community and to determine the basis for its virulence. Our new aims are listed below. a. What are the reservoirs and modes of transmission of ST398 in Northern Manhattan? A cluster-based study design will be used to define the basis for ST398 transmission in Northern Manhattan. Subjects either colonized or infected with ST398 will be identified, interviewed, cultured. All contacts and their secondary contacts will be identified and asked to participate. Factors associated with acquisition and transmission of this strain will be determined. Efforts will be made to enroll all network members including recent contacts in the Dominican Republic. In light of the past history of an animal origin for ST398 we will examine potential animal reservoirs in the community including pet stores, veterinarians, butchers and pet groomers. Spatial mapping of the location the strains were identified will also be used to identify potential patterns of or reservoirs for transmission. b. What genetic alterations are responsible for the adaptation of strain ST398 to person-to-person transmission? We will use total genome sequencing to compare the Northern Manhattan ST398 isolates with those isolates that have been directly associated with animal related infections. We will identify regions of the ST398 genome that are unique and might explain the increased transmissibility and virulence of these clones. A molecular beacon assay will be developed to more easily identify ST398. This will allow more efficient and rapid screening for ST398 in large collections of S. aureus isolates. The study will utilize the resources of the Columbia University Irving Center for Clinical and Translational Research to help carry out this community-based investigation. The revision will provide two new positions as well as provide additional work for the total genome sequencing company assisting with aim 2.
The goal of this revised supplement is to define the importance of S. aureus strain ST398, a strain originally associated with infections among animal workers now prevalent in Northern Manhattan, as an emerging pathogen in our community and to determine the basis for its virulence.
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