Programme Hospitalier Recherche Clinique, Institut Pasteur, Inserm, French Public Health Agency.

During the spring of 1981, two strains of an identical virus were isolated in Mayenne, France, from Ixodes ricinus L. and Ixodes ventalloi Gil Collado, parasiting a wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.). Virological and serological results indicated that these strains belong to the Colorado tick fever serogroup and are indistinguishable from Eyach virus, a tick-borne virus previously described from West Germany. Study of dsRNA PAGE profiles confirmed these conclusions. The morphology and morphogenesis of French isolates were studied in infected suckling mouse brains showing some peculiar features previously described for Colorado tick fever virus. The importance of the isolation of Eyach virus in France is discussed.

SummarySeven strains of a new Flavivirus, for which the name of Meaban virus is proposed, were isolated from the seabird tick Ornithodoros (A.) maritimus collected during 1981 and 1982 in nests of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) on islands of South Brittany, France. The new virus was compared serologieally with 65 other flaviviruses including Tyuleniy virus and was found to be most closely related to, but different from Saumarez Reef virus, an agent previously isolated in Australia and Tasmania. Some general properties of Meaban virus are described and its antigenic relationships with other tick-borne flaviviruses associated with seabirds are discussed.

Four consecutive epidemics of keratoconjunctivitis caused by adenovirus 8 (Ad8) occurred over a 5-year period in Brest, France. A selection of 30 strains isolated during this period was studied by DNA restriction enzyme analysis using nine restriction enzymes. BglI and SacI were the most discriminative enzymes and allowed the recognition of four DNA variants, all different from the prototype strain Trim. Within each of the epidemics, the strains tested could not be distinguished in this analysis. Between strains from different epidemics differences in DNA structure could be detected however. Thus, the Ad8 epidemics of 1983/1984, 1984, 1987, and 1988 appear to have been due to DNA variants Ad8/D7, D8, D9, and D10, respectively. These results demonstrate that the DNA of Ad8 seems to display a considerable variability, comparable to that observed with Ad7 and Ad21. As has been described for Ad7, Ad21 and Ad41, successive DNA variants of Ad8 prevail during one or more years, and are then replaced by other, newly emerging variants sometimes associated with epidemics.

Globicatella sanguinis is a rare cause of acute meningitis. We demonstrated human carriage of Globicatella by identifying cefotaxime-resistant strains in groin and rectal specimens 9 months after invasive infection. The pathogenic strain isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid and the carriage strains were accurately identified by sodA gene sequence analysis. CASE REPORTA 56-year-old woman presented with vomiting and headache, associated with instability when walking, memory impairment, and clinical signs of meningitis. Lumbar puncture revealed turbid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with pleocytosis (11,800 ϫ 10 6 white blood cells/liter with 94% polymorphonuclear cells), a glucose concentration of 0.59 g/liter, and a protein concentration of 2.32 g/liter. Gram-positive cocci were observed and subsequently identified as Globicatella sanguinis strain HDP50220. Based on the results of antibiotic susceptibility tests, the primary antibiotic treatment, which consisted of cefotaxime (100 mg/kg of body weight/day intravenously [i.v.]) combined with fosfomycin (200 mg/kg/day i.v.), was replaced by amoxicillin (200 mg/kg/day i.v.) for 3 weeks. Remission of meningitis was confirmed by the absence of bacterial growth from a follow-up CSF sample. Nine months later, Globicatella isolates HDP60616 and HDP60617 were retrieved from the groin and rectum, respectively.The Globicatella strain from CSF grew as pinpoint, alphahemolytic colonies on blood and chocolate agars (Oxoid, Wesel, Germany) incubated for 18 h at 37°C under an atmosphere enriched with 5% CO 2 ; Gram-positive, catalase-negative cocci organized into short chains and clusters were observed. Biochemical characteristics of the strain determined by the rapid ID 32 Strep system corresponded to those of G. sanguinis (profile 623.761.733.50; certainty of 99.9%), whereas those determined by the API 20 Strep system corresponded to those of Aerococcus viridans (profile 7306773; certainty of 88.9%) (both systems were obtained from bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) ( Table 1).The antibiotic susceptibility of the isolate was investigated by the disk diffusion method, and MICs were determined with the Etest (AES, Combourg, France). The criteria of the Antibiogram Committee of the French Society for Microbiology for Streptococcus spp. were used for the interpretation of antimicrobial drug susceptibility results (http://www.sfm.asso.fr). The strain was susceptible to benzylpenicillin (MIC ϭ 0.125 g/ml), amoxicillin (MIC Յ 0.016 g/ml), chloramphenicol, tetracycline, pristinamycin, rifampin, fosfomycin, vancomycin, and teicoplanin and resistant to cefotaxime (MIC Ն 32 g/ml), erythromycin (MIC ϭ 32 g/ml), and clindamycin (MIC Ն 256 g/ml). The isolate was tested for the presence of the mefA, ermB, and ermA genes by multiplex PCR as described previously (7, 9). An amplification product from ermA, but not from the other genes, was obtained. Swab samples from the nasal fossae, throat, armpit, groin, and rectum were plated onto colistin-nalidixic acid-blood agar plates (Oxoid) for the invest...