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Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/G...119/story.html
Gene sequencing, social networking help stop B.C. tuberculosis outbreak
By PAMELA FAYERMAN, Vancouver Sun February 23, 2011 3:19 PM
B.C. scientists used DNA gene sequencing and social networking surveys to track a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak that spread when drug addicts got together in crack cocaine houses and other squalid environments like flop hotels, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
"When we did this in 2008, nobody in the world had ever used genome sequencing to investigate a bacterial outbreak, but I think it should be applied to everything now because you can learn so quickly how it started and how it's spreading," said lead author Jennifer Gardy, head of the genome research lab at the BCCDC.
Although the paper doesn't say so, news reports at the time revealed the two and half year outbreak that started in 2006 affected 41 people in Port Alberni, including an infant and a child. Traditional contact tracing, in which public health nurses ask about family members and close contacts, did not identify the origin for the outbreak nor the sources of transmission...
Gene sequencing, social networking help stop B.C. tuberculosis outbreak
By PAMELA FAYERMAN, Vancouver Sun February 23, 2011 3:19 PM
B.C. scientists used DNA gene sequencing and social networking surveys to track a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak that spread when drug addicts got together in crack cocaine houses and other squalid environments like flop hotels, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
"When we did this in 2008, nobody in the world had ever used genome sequencing to investigate a bacterial outbreak, but I think it should be applied to everything now because you can learn so quickly how it started and how it's spreading," said lead author Jennifer Gardy, head of the genome research lab at the BCCDC.
Although the paper doesn't say so, news reports at the time revealed the two and half year outbreak that started in 2006 affected 41 people in Port Alberni, including an infant and a child. Traditional contact tracing, in which public health nurses ask about family members and close contacts, did not identify the origin for the outbreak nor the sources of transmission...