TY - JOUR AU - Hasan, Nabeeh AU - Davidson, Rebecca AU - Epperson, L. Elaine AU - Kammlade, Sara AU - Beagle, Sean AU - Levin, Adrah AU - de Moura, Vinicius Calado AU - Hunkins, Joshua AU - Weakly, Natalia AU - Sagel, Scott AU - Martiniano, Stacey AU - Salfinger, Max AU - Daley, Charles AU - Nick, Jerry AU - Strong, Michael T1 - Population Genomics and Inference of Mycobacterium avium Complex Clusters in Cystic Fibrosis Care Centers, United States T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2021 VL - 27 IS - 11 SP - 2836 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) species constitute most mycobacteria infections in persons with cystic fibrosis (CF) in the United States, but little is known about their genomic diversity or transmission. During 2016–2020, we performed whole-genome sequencing on 364 MAC isolates from 186 persons with CF from 42 cystic fibrosis care centers (CFCCs) across 23 states. We compared isolate genomes to identify instances of shared strains between persons with CF. Among persons with multiple isolates sequenced, 15/56 (27%) had >1 MAC strain type. Genomic comparisons revealed 18 clusters of highly similar isolates; 8 of these clusters had patients who shared CFCCs, which included 27/186 (15%) persons with CF. We provide genomic evidence of highly similar MAC strains shared among patients at the same CFCCs. Polyclonal infections and high genetic similarity between MAC isolates are consistent with multiple modes of acquisition for persons with CF to acquire MAC infections. KW - Mycobacterium avium complex KW - Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. intracellulare KW - Mycobacterium intracellulare subsp. chimaera KW - transmission KW - clusters KW - whole-genome sequencing KW - phylogenomics KW - cystic fibrosis KW - tuberculosis and other mycobacteria KW - nontuberculous mycobacteria KW - bacteria KW - United States DO - 10.3201/eid2711.210124 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/11/21-0124_article ER - End of Reference