Journal of Bacteriology & Parasitology

Bacillus anthracis strains circulating in Albania

3^rd International Congress on Bacteriology and Infectious Diseases

August 04-06, 2015 Valencia, Spain

Emanuele Campese1, Ardi Peculi2, Luigina Serrecchia1, Giuseppe Leonzio1, Jonida Boci2, Bizena Bijo2 and Antonio Fasanella1

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Bacteriol Parasitol

Abstract:

Anthrax, whose causative agent is Bacillus anthracis, is a non-contagious infectious disease that affects several animal
species, the human one included. Domestic and wild ruminants represent the most susceptible categories. The bacterial
agent has the characteristic of producing spores that can survive in the environment for several decades. Anthrax in Albania is
an endemic disease characterized by few outbreaks involving a very low number of animals. Nineteen samples of soil coming
from burial sites and 11 strains of Bacillus spp. isolated from died animals of different districts of Albania were examined. The
analysis of soil samples revealed that 11 of them were contaminated with anthrax spores, while only 8 strains were confirmed
as Bacillus anthracis. The analysis of canSNPs showed that all isolates belong to lineage A major subgroup A.Br.008/009 (Trans-
Eurasian or TEA strains). The MLVA test at 15 loci showed three different genotypes: Albania GT/1, Albania GT/2 and Albania
GT/3. Two distinct genotypes (Albania GT/2 and GT/3) were found in the same burial site in the district of Kukës. All the
genotypes are genetically very similar to each other, which confirm the hypothesis that, all of them are the results of the
evolution of a local common ancestral strain. However it is not excluded that in the course of further investigation, strains
belonging to other lineages can be found, as it has been observed in Italy, where, in addition to the dominant genotype TEA,
there are ecological niches of B.Br.CNEVA and A.Br.005/006 in the regions Northern Italy.

Biography :

Emanuele Campese got a Master’s degree in Environmental Biology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Bari, 2012. He participated in several courses
and workshops. In December 2013 he won a grant at the Department of the National Reference Center for Anthrax at the Istituto Zooprofilattico of Puglia and
Basilicata. The main fields of his research activities are the development and improvement of techniques for the isolation of Bacillus anthracis from soil and
molecular epidemiology of anthrax in developing countries. He is author and co-author of scientific papers published on international journals and conference
communications.