Distribution and molecular characterization of South African Bacillus Anthracis strains and their associated bacteriophages

Abstract

Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review; Chapter 2: A retrospective study of anthrax on the Ghaap plateau, Northern Cape Province of South Africa, with special reference to the 2007 - 2008 outbreaks; Chapter 3: Insights gained from sample diagnostics during anthrax outbreaks in the Kruger National Park, South Africa; Chapter 4: Through the lens: a microscopic and molecular evaluation of archival blood smears from the 2010 anthrax outbreaks in Kruger National Park, South Africa; Chapter 5: A distribution snapshot of anthrax in South Africa: multiple locus variable number of tandem repeats analyses of Bacillus anthracis isolates from epizootics spanning 4 decades across southern Africa; Chapter 6: Isolation and Whole Genome Analysis of a Lytic Bacteriophage Infected Bacillus anthracis Isolate from Pafuri, South Africa; Chapter 7: Characterisation of temperate bacteriophages infecting Bacillus cereus sensu stricto group in the anthrax endemic regions of South Africa; Chapter 8: General discussion, conclusions and recommendations.