Three bacterial strains, KC07075, KC07079 and KC07084
, were isolated from the oral cavity of cats in 2007 in Japan. These strains were Gram-negative rods, exhibited gliding motility, grew in air ...with 5 % CO
, and showed oxidase activity, but not catalase activity. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of the three strains were 100 % identical. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain KC07084
showed 92.1 and 91.9% identity to the type strains of
and
, respectively, and showed 89.3-91.6% identity to other
species. The major cellular fatty acids of strain KC07084
were iso-C
(58.4 %) and summed feature 11 (13.1 %). The G+C content of DNA from strain KC07084
was 33.7 mol%, and the genome size was 2.92 Mbp. Strains KC07075, KC07079 and KC07084
showed digital DNA-DNA hybridization values (dDDH) values of 99.9 % and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of 99.98 % with each other, strain KC07084
had dDDH values of 18.7-28.2 % and ANI values of 67.12-72.30 % to the type strains of other
species. All known species of the genus
inhabiting the oral cavity of dogs and cats have catalase activity, but the three strains, including type strain KC07084
, lacked catalase activity. These results of the phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence, biochemical characteristics, and dDDH and ANI values suggest that strain KC07084
represents a novel species. We propose the name
sp. nov., with KC07084
as the type strain (=JCM 32682
=DSM 107252
).
Chronic Brucellosis in Japan Kawakami, Naoki; Wakai, Yoko; Saito, Kazuhito ...
Internal Medicine,
11/2019, Volume:
58, Issue:
21
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Human brucellosis, one of the most common zoonoses worldwide, rarely occurs in Japan, and only a few chronic cases have been reported. We herein report the case of a 39-year-old Japanese woman with ...chronic human brucellosis, considered a Brucella canis infection, that persisted for 19 years. Her medical history and fever pattern suggested chronic brucellosis, and the diagnosis was made based on the results of a serum tube agglutination test (SAT). After undergoing combination therapy with streptomycin and doxycycline, she achieved symptomatic relief and showed negative SAT results. Even in non-endemic areas, chronic brucellosis is an important differential diagnosis in patients with long-term persistent fatigue or a fever.
A 62-year-old woman with no previous history developed a Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection followed by thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). She was ...treated with antibiotics and plasma exchange (PE) and recovered. C. canimorsus sepsis sometimes causes not only DIC but also TMA. The mortality of TMA is extremely high, so we should not hesitate to perform PE when a patient shows TMA symptoms.
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and cats. Clinical symptoms of SFTS-infected cats resemble those of SFTS patients, whereas ...SFTS-contracted cats have high levels of viral RNA loads in the serum and body fluids. Due to the risk of direct infection from SFTS-infected cats to human, it is important to diagnose SFTS-suspected animals. In this study, a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was newly developed to diagnose SFTS-suspected animals without non-specific reactions.
Four primer sets were newly designed from consensus sequences constructed from 108 strains of SFTSV. A RT-PCR with these four primer sets successfully and specifically detected four clades of SFTSV. Their limits of detection are 1-10 copies/reaction. Using this RT-PCR, 5 cat cases among 56 SFTS-suspected animal cases were diagnosed as SFTS. From these cats, IgM or IgG against SFTSV were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), but not neutralizing antibodies by plaque reduction neutralization titer (PRNT) test. This phenomenon is similar to those of fatal SFTS patients.
This newly developed RT-PCR could detect SFTSV RNA of several clades and from SFTS-suspected animals. In addition to ELISA and PRNT test, the useful laboratory diagnosis systems of SFTS-suspected animals has been made in this study.
Babesia divergens is the major causal agent of zoonotic human babesiosis across Europe. Previously, we reported the detection of a B. divergens Asia lineage in wild sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Japan ...which was genetically closely related to the European B. divergens. To further elucidate its etiology, we conducted a large epidemiological survey by combining lineage-specific PCR system and blood direct PCR. The infection rate of the Asia lineage was 6.6% (116/1,747) throughout Japan, where Hokkaido (45%), Nagano (17%), Iwate (12%), Gunma (11%), and Yamanashi (11%) were highly enzootic (> 10%) among the 30 prefectures examined. European B. divergens was not detected. A geographical information system (GIS) map revealed dense populations of PCR-positive deer in the mountains including the Japanese Alps in eastern Honshu, and Hokkaido. These areas markedly overlapped with the major habitats of Ixodes persulcatus, a principal tick vector responsible for the transmission of the Asia lineage. Other areas in southern Japan including Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Shimane Prefectures, where positive sika deer were sporadically detected, may be habitats for other tick species involved in the enzootic cycle as I. persulcatus were scarce. The rise in human babesiosis cases is occasionally attributed to healthy blood donors who were unaware of tick bites and Babesia infection. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate whether infections in humans have occurred in Japan.
Four strains, KC07070
, KC07105, 11 025B-8C and 11 026B-8-C, were isolated from the oral cavity of cats in 2007 or 2011 in Japan. These strains were Gram-stain-negative rods, exhibited gliding ...motility, grew in air with 5 % CO
and showed catalase and oxidase activity. The sequences of 16S rRNA genes of the four strains were 100 % identical. Additionally, the sequences of 16S rRNA genes of KC07070
had identity to those of the type strains of
(97.7 %),
(97.8 %) and
(97.4 %) and 91.2-93.8% identity to those of other species of the genus
. The major cellular fatty acids of KC07070
were iso-C
(56.2 %) and summed feature 11 (14.9 %). The G+C content of the DNA from KC07070
was 35.6 mol%, and the genome size was 2.88 Mbp. KC07070
had digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values of 26.2-27.6% and average nucleotide identity (ANI) values of 75.4-83.3 % to the type strains of the closest relatives,
,
and
. These results of phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence, cellular fatty acids compositions and dDDH and ANI values indicate that strain KC07070
represents a novel species, for which we propose the name
sp. nov., with type strain KC07070
(=JCM 32681
=DSM 107251
).
Capnocytophaga species are among the typical zoonotic pathogens causing infections following direct contact with animals. Recently, a putative novel species of zoonotic Capnocytophaga, Capnocytophaga ...stomatis, was reported. We herein report the first case of bacteremia caused by C. stomatis. A woman in her 80s with multiple myeloma who was receiving bortezomib and dexamethasone therapy was admitted to our hospital with a 2-day history of a fever and right calf redness. She was often licked by her cat. On a blood culture, thin, Gram-negative rods were detected, which were identified as C. stomatis by whole-genome sequencing. The patient was successfully treated with ampicillin-sulbactam treatment. Our case highlights the pathogenic potential of the putative novel Capnocytophaga, C. stomatis, in immunocompromised hosts.
Human brucellosis, one of the most common zoonoses worldwide, is rare in Japan. Brucella canis is the specific pathogen of human brucellosis carried by dogs. According to an epidemiological study of ...B. canis infection in Japan, B. canis is the specific pathogen of human brucellosis in dogs. We herein report a rare case of meningoencephalomyelitis caused by B. canis in a 68-year-old Japanese man. Neurobrucellosis was diagnosed based on a serum tube agglutination test and abnormal cerebrospinal fluid findings. The patient was started on targeted treatment with a combination of doxycycline and streptomycin. Although extremely rare, neurobrucellosis should be considered in patients with a fever of unknown origin and unexplained neurological symptoms.
This report describes uncomplicated bacteremia caused by Capnocytophaga canimorsus in an immunocompetent woman who presented with rigor and fever. She was hemodynamically stable. Two blood samples ...were immediately cultured because rigor indicated bacteremia. Although her symptoms were relieved, Gram-negative rods grew from blood cultures. She noted that she had been bitten by her dog before the first examination. The bacterium was confirmed as C. canimorsus by gene analysis. Infection with C. canimorsus can be fatal when accompanied by sepsis in elderly or immunocompromised patients. However, this case was considered rare as the patient was 41 years old and immunocompetent.
Rat-bite fever (RBF) is a disease that usually presents with fever, arthralgia and skin rash. Streptobacillus moniliformis was considered the main cause of RBF among the genus Streptobacillus. ...Although with similar clinical presentation, RBF due to Streptobacillus notomytis is unusual in humans. To the best of our knowledge, we present a case involving the first isolate of S. notomytis in humans. A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with fever, rash and polyarthritis. She recalled being bitten by a rat on her finger 5 days before presentation. Clinical manifestations were compatible with rat-bite fever (RBF) and the diagnosis was confirmed by the detection of Streptobacillus species from both blood and pustule samples. Initial polymerase chain reaction tests revealed that the organism was S. moniliformis. However, thorough genetic analysis revealed the organism to be S. notomytis. The condition was successfully treated with ampicillin.