Modern approaches to genotyping of causative agents of particularly dangerous infections

Abstract

Currently genotyping of microorganisms is widely used in the investigation of outbreaks of infectious diseases, the implementation of epidemiological surveillance of infections and phylogenetic analysis of bacterial pathogens. Development of methods for genotyping is particularly topical for pathogens of such highly dangerous infections as plague, cholera, anthrax, brucellosis, tularemia, glanders and melioidosis, due to their high pathogenicity and contagiousness. In this overview there is presented the characteristics of different genotyping methods together with an indication of their advantages and drawbacks. There has been analyzed the frequency of the use of genotyping methods on an annual basis and in terms of the type of the causative agents of especially dangerous infections.