About the Authors

Zhi Li

lizhi_lily@hotmail.com

Affiliation Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America

Dennis L. Stevens

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Stephanie M. Hamilton

Affiliation Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America

Tanyalak Parimon

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Yongsheng Ma

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America

Angela M. Kearns

Affiliation Microbiology Services Division, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom

Richard W. Ellis

Affiliation Microbiology Department, South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, South Shields, United Kingdom

Amy E. Bryant

Affiliations Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, United States of America, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: ZL AEB DLS. Performed the experiments: ZL SMH TP. Analyzed the data: ZL AEB DLS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AMK YM RWE. Wrote the paper: AEB ZL.