INTRODUCTION
Streptococcus suis is one of the most important pathogens in the porcine
industry causing septicemia, meningitis and many other infections.
1 In addition, it is an emerging zoonotic agent responsible for
septicemia with or without septic shock, meningitis and other less
common infections in humans.1 During the last decade, the number
of reported human cases due to S. suis has dramatically increased, and
while most sporadic human cases of infection appear to be due to close
occupational contact with pigs/pork products, particularly in Western
countries (farmers, veterinarians, butchers, food processing workers,
etc.), two epidemics were recorded in China in 1998 and 2005.1 As of
2006, the number of human cases reported in Asia has increased.2,3 In
fact, in some Asian countries, the general population is at risk.2
However, an update on the distribution of the different serotypes
and sequence types (STs), as determined by multilocus sequence typing
(MLST), of strains responsible for infections in both pigs and
humans from around the world have not been recently compiled.
Yet, knowledge of this distribution is necessary in order to not only
understand the current situation regarding S. suis, but also to evaluate
areas where knowledge is lacking. This review covers the global distribution
of the S. suis serotypes and STs responsible for infections
reported in pigs from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2013. A complete
review on serotypes from humans since the first description in
1968 was also carried out. However, data of the STs from human cases