Molecular Genetic Methods and Computer Technologies in the System of Epidemiological Surveillance of Salmonella Infection

Abstract

Introduction: Salmonella infection occupies a leading position in the structure of acute intestinal infections caused by bacterial pathogens. In recent years, with the development of molecular genetic methods and introduction of techniques of computerized data processing, the improvement of the epidemiological surveillance system in the light of the world scientific achievements has become of particular importance. This review is aimed at presenting the history of developing molecular genetic methods and computer technologies in the study of Salmonella infection, and the update on the issue in the Russian Federation based on recent findings of the Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology named after G.P. Somov, one of the leading Russian centers for the study of Salmonella. Materials and methods: We used databases of the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology of Somov Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, and did a literature search in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Elsevier, Springer, and Google Scholar. Results: Since the second half of the 1980s, the method of plasmid DNA analysis of bacteria of the Salmonella genus has been put into practice. Since 1990, this method has been the basis for microbiological molecular genetic monitoring of the pathogen. The geography of the studied strains, restricted to Primorsky Krai in the 1990s, already in the 2000s encompassed the Far Eastern and Siberian Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. The studies conducted by the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology helped improve the system of epidemiological surveillance of the causative agent of salmonellosis in the Far East and revealed the structure of the Salmonella population based on the analysis of plasmids contained in Salmonella strains. Conclusion: Several issues related to microbiology, epidemiology, clinical picture, and prevention of Salmonella infection were resolved during the comprehensive research. We discuss prospects for the development of molecular genetic methods and computer technologies in the study of Salmonella infection in the epidemiological surveillance system in the Russian Federation and emphasize the importance of whole-genome sequencing as a new “gold standard” in molecular epidemiology.