Concern regarding the alleged spread of hypervirulent lymphogranuloma venereum Chlamydia trachomatis strain in Europe

HM Seth-Smith 1 2 , JC Galán 3 , D Goldenberger 1 , DA Lewis 4 5 , O Peuchant 6 , C Bébéar 6 , B de Barbeyrac 6 , A Bénard 7 , I Carter 8 , J Kok 5 8 , SM Bruisten 9 10 , B Versteeg 9 , SA Morré 11 12 , NR Thomson 7 13 , A Egli 1 2 , HJ de Vries 9 10 14 1. Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland 2. Applied Microbiology Research, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland 3. Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal. CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP). Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain 4. Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Western Sydney Local Health District, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia 5. Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity & Sydney Medical School-Westmead, Sydney, Australia 6. University of Bordeaux, INRA, USC ES 3671, French National Reference Centre for chlamydiae, Bordeaux, France 7. Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Cambridge, United Kingdom 8. Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia 9. STI Outpatient Clinic, Department of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 10. Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute (AI&II), Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 11. Laboratory of Immunogenetics, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 12. Institute for Public Health Genomics (IPHG), Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Research Institute GROW, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands 13. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom 14. Department of Dermatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands