%0 Journal Article %A Xiaoli, Lingzi %A Benoliel, Eileen %A Peng, Yanhui %A Aneke, Janessa %A Cassiday, Pamela K. %A Kay, Meagan %A McKeirnan, Shelly %A Duchin, Jeffery S. %A Kawakami, Vance %A Lindquist, Scott %A Acosta, Anna M. %A DeBolt, Chas %A Tondella, Maria Lucia %A Weigand, Michael R. %T Genomic epidemiology of nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae from King County, Washington State, USA between July 2018 and May 2019 %D 2020 %J Microbial Genomics, %V 6 %N 12 %@ 2057-5858 %C e000467 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000467 %K SNP %K nontoxigenic %K virulence factor %K genomics %K C. diphtheriae %I Microbiology Society, %X Between July 2018 and May 2019, Corynebacterium diphtheriae was isolated from eight patients with non-respiratory infections, seven of whom experienced homelessness and had stayed at shelters in King County, WA, USA. All isolates were microbiologically identified as nontoxigenic C. diphtheriae biovar mitis. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed that all case isolates were genetically related, associated with sequence type 445 and differing by fewer than 24 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Compared to publicly available C. diphtheriae genomic data, these WA isolates formed a discrete cluster with SNP variation consistent with previously reported outbreaks. Virulence-related gene content variation within the highly related WA cluster isolates was also observed. These results indicated that genome characterization can readily support epidemiology of nontoxigenic C. diphtheriae . %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000467