Genotyping of Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus strains in Kazakhstan using MLVA-15

In fine-scale MLVA-15 analysis, 17 B. abortus and 12 B. melitensis genotypes were identified; among them 12 are novel. Interestingly, epidemiological information supporting molecular data were retrieved for two clusters within the B. abortus group, thus proving that MLVA is an appropriate tool for effective traceback analyses. Our findings suggest that molecular genotyping should be applied systematically to support control plans for eradication of brucellosis in Kazakhstan.