Direct isolation of<i>Francisella</i>spp. from environmental samples

Petersen, Jeannine M.; Carlson, Jennifer K.; Yockey, Brook; Pillai, Segaran P.; Kuske, Cheryl R.; Garbalena, G.; Pottumarthy, Sudha; Chalcraft, Linda

doi:10.1111/j.1472-765x.2009.02589.x

Cited by 53 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…F. novicida and F. philomiragia are infrequent causes of opportunistic infections in compromised individuals or saltwater near-drowning victims and are associated with saltwater or brackish water (13,14). In recent years, several unclassified Francisella spp., also linked to marine and brackish environments, have been identified based on 16S rRNA gene analysis of uncultured samples or by isolation and characterization of the organism (15)(16)(17)(18). To date, none of these Francisella species have been associated with human infections.…”

Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cutaneous Infection Caused by a Novel Francisella sp

et al. 2013

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A 69-year-old patient presented with a tender, thickly crusted skin lesion of 1 week's duration. A bacterial culture swab taken from the underlying granular tissue yielded a pure isolate of a Gram-negative coccobacillus, presumptively identified as a novel Francisella species via 16S rRNA and multilocus gene sequence analysis. CASE REPORTO n 5 January 2011, a 69-year-old white male presented to a dermatology clinic with a tender lesion on his left ankle. The patient had been well until the previous week when he cut down an Arizona ash tree near his home in southern Louisiana, close to the Mississippi River. Branches from the tree scratched his legs and abraded his left ankle. He applied mupirocin ointment to the ankle lesion, but it became increasingly tender and erythematous. His underlying medical conditions included non-insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a history of a squamous cell carcinoma excised from his right arm in March 2010. The patient denied fever, chills, or other systemic symptoms.On initial examination, the patient was afebrile with a 4-by 6-cm thickly crusted erythematous nodule on the medial aspect of the left ankle, with surrounding erythema and tenderness to palpation (Fig. 1A). Incision and drainage of the nodule was attempted; however, no pus or purulent drainage was noted. Tissue underlying the eschar was pink and granular. A biopsy specimen of the underlying granular tissue was submitted for histopathology, deep fungal culture, and atypical mycobacterial culture; a swab was also taken for routine bacterial culture.Initial histopathology of the biopsied tissue was interpreted as squamous cell carcinoma. The patient was referred to a general surgeon for excision of the lesion but, because of the surrounding erythema, was also prescribed 500 mg ciprofloxacin twice daily (BID) for 7 days. The patient noted improvement in the lesion after 24 h. Deep fungal and atypical mycobacterial cultures were both negative. A Gram-negative coccobacillus grew from the bacterial swab taken from the underlying granular tissue and was presumptively identified as Francisella tularensis (described below). Based on the isolation of a Francisella species from the lesion, an additional 7 days of ciprofloxacin was prescribed, and the pathologist who performed histopathology was contacted to review the initial biopsy specimen. The pathologist's amended report noted probable pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia overlying a dense suppurative granulomatous dermatitis, rather than squamous cell carcinoma. However, significant atypia was noted, and the remaining lesion was excised in the operating room on 4 March 2011. The area healed well without further sequelae. Subsequent independent histopathology of the biopsy tissue similarly indicated no evidence of squamous cell carcinoma but rather marked inflammation and pseudoepitheliomatous epidermal hyperplasia with a dense, mixed dermal infiltrate including scattered small neutrophilic microabscesses, histiocytes, lymphocytes, and plasma cells (Fig....

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Section: Case Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cutaneous Infection Caused by a Novel Francisella sp

et al. 2013

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“…Sources of human infection with F. novicida remain largely unknown; unlike F. tularensis, F. novicida has not been shown to be associated with arthropod vectors or animals in nature. F. novicida has been detected in brackish and saltwater sources (1,12,19); however, this appears to be the first reported case associated with a near-drowning event. In this instance, F. novicida was not detected until hospital day 14, 1 day after the patient's death.…”

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confidence: 72%

Francisella novicida Bacteremia after a Near-Drowning Accident

et al. 2012

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“…However, several recent reports suggest that additional Francisella spp. occur in the marine environment (Petersen et al 2009, Steinum et al 2009, Schrallhammer et al 2011. Occurrence of related species in seawater may further complicate the use of real-time RT-PCR to detect F. noatunensis in water samples, as well as in filtering invertebrates (see Colquhoun & Duodu 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate of Francisella noatunensis, a pathogen of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, in blue mussels Mytilus edulis

Wangen

Karlsbakk²,

Einen³

et al. 2012

Dis. Aquat. Org.

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Francisellosis, caused by the bacterium Francisella noatunensis, is one of the most severe diseases affecting farmed cod, and has caused great economic loss for the cod farming industry in Norway. We studied the fate of F. noatunensis in the marine environment, focusing on the role of blue mussels. In experimental challenges, waterborne F. noatunensis was rapidly filtered by the blue mussel and transported to the digestive diverticulae. The bacteria passed through the entire digestive system. Intraperitoneal injection of cod with suspensions prepared from faeces collected from challenged mussels resulted in the development of francisellosis in the recipients, demonstrating that some bacteria were alive and infective when shed in mussel faeces. Bacterial clearance from the mussels was relatively fast, and no evidence was found, suggesting that the bacterium is capable of persisting or multiplying in the mussel tissues. A cohabitation experiment with cod and mussels previously exposed to F. noatunensis did not lead to infection in cod. A direct transmission from contaminated mussels to cod was thus not demonstrated; however, faeces particles with infective bacteria may play a role in the transmission of the bacterium in marine food chains.

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Direct isolation ofFrancisellaspp. from environmental samples

Cited by 53 publications

References 13 publications

Cutaneous Infection Caused by a Novel Francisella sp

Cutaneous Infection Caused by a Novel Francisella sp

Francisella novicida Bacteremia after a Near-Drowning Accident

Fate of Francisella noatunensis, a pathogen of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, in blue mussels Mytilus edulis

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