A whole genome sequencing "based method" for molecular epidemiological investigations of plague is evaluated.

Whole genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST) combines single nucleotide polymorphisms, variable number of tandem repeats, and small insertions and deletions into a single analysis.

wgMLST is scalable to include new alleles for every strain sequenced.

Diversity among multi-locus sequence typing alleles accurately grouped US Yersinia pestis strains by their epidemiological relationships