Lineage and Virulence of Streptococcus suis Serotype 2 Isolates from North America

We performed multilocus sequence typing of 64 North American Streptococcus suis serotype 2 porcine isolates. Strains were sequence type (ST) 28 (51%), ST25 (44%), and ST1 (5%). We identified nonrandom associations between STs and expression of the virulence markers suilysin (SLY), muramidase-relased protein (MRP), and extracellular factor (EF). Expression of pili encoded by the srtF and srtG pilus clusters was also nonrandomly associated with STs. ST1 strains were SLY+ EF+ MRP+ srtF pilus+ srtG pilus−. ST25 strains were SLY− EF− MRP− srtF pilus− srtG pilus+, and most ST28 strains were SLY− MRP+ EF− srtF pilus+ srtG pilus+. ST28 isolates proved essentially nonvirulent in a mouse infection model; ST25 strains showed moderate virulence and ST1 isolates were highly virulent. ST1 is responsible for a high proportion of S. suis disease in humans worldwide. Its presence in North America indicates that potential zoonotic S. suis outbreaks in this continent cannot be disregarded.