Drug-resistant form of Salmonella reported

CAMBRIDGE, England, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A British-led group of international scientists says a new drug resistant strain of Salmonella Typhimurium is causing life-threatening disease in Africa.

The researchers, part of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and other Wellcome Trust programs -- said S. Typhimurium normally causes diarrhea and is rarely fatal. But the new strain, called ST313, leads to death in up to one in four cases.

Scientists said genetic changes transformed the bacteria into a new antibiotic-resistant form that appears to be better adapted to affect humans, is resistant to several commonly used antibiotics and might spread from person to person.

"Multi-drug resistant forms of this deadly type of S. Typhimurium emerged only in the last decade," Dr. Robert Kingsley, lead author of the study, said. "It seems to have evolved to acquire a unique armory that allows it to efficiently infect vulnerable children and adults in some African regions. The results highlight the power of in-depth genome sequence analysis to challenge basic medical assumptions and distinguish closely related pathogens.

"This is a new form of pathogen," he said.

The study's findings are reported in the journal Genome Research.