Shewanella spp. infections in Gran Canaria, Spain: retrospective analysis of 31 cases and a literature review

Abstract

IntroductionShewanella spp. can cause severe skin and soft-tissue infections, gastrointestinal infections, otitis and bacteraemia, generally upon contact with seawater or consumption of raw seafood. Recently, a new condition termed ‘patera foot’ characterized by acute skin and soft-tissue infection has been described in irregular immigrants arriving to the Canary Islands, Spain, in rudimentary boats. Most infections are caused by a single species, Shewanella algae. The improvement of the diagnostic capabilities in clinical microbiology laboratories has resulted in a growing number of cases being reported worldwide, most of them coming from warm regions.Case presentationIn this work, we reviewed the medical records of all the patients with Shewanella infections in the two university hospitals of Gran Canaria (the Canary Islands, Spain) during the period 2000–2016, resulting in the identification of 31 cases. We also conducted a literature review of Shewanella infections reported worldwide in recent years.ConclusionThis case series suggests that Shewanella infections are nosocomially acquired more frequently than previously thought. In addition, the unexpectedly high proportion of multidrug-resistant isolates raises concerns.

Comparative Genomics Reveals Pathogenicity-Related Loci in Shewanella algae

“…e organism was first classified in 1990 by Simidu et al [1], emended by Nozue et al [2], and described as a Gramnegative, motile bacillus, with hydrogen sulfide production, exhibiting hemolysis on sheep blood agar. S. algae is found in marine environments throughout the world and has been linked with both human and marine animal infections [3,4]. Currently, there are at least three other Shewanella species found in clinical specimens and S. algae accounts for the majority of isolates from humans [5,6].…”

Whole-Genome Sequencing Redefines Shewanella Taxonomy

“…Shewanella are ubiquitously distributed in marine and freshwater environments, including deep-sea and polar regions, with some species being part of the microbiota of aquatic animals. One species, S. algae , is considered to be an emergent human pathogen (Martín-Rodríguez et al, 2017), with a few additional species being occasionally pathogenic. While human infections are still relatively scarce, the number of case reports is raising quickly, which can be partly due to higher medical awareness and refined identification methods (Martín-Rodríguez et al, 2017).…”

“…One species, S. algae , is considered to be an emergent human pathogen (Martín-Rodríguez et al, 2017), with a few additional species being occasionally pathogenic. While human infections are still relatively scarce, the number of case reports is raising quickly, which can be partly due to higher medical awareness and refined identification methods (Martín-Rodríguez et al, 2017). Recent human microbiome studies have reported the presence of Shewanella in association with disease (Flemer et al, 2017; Kalyana Chakravarthy et al, 2018).…”

Isolation and Characterization of Shewanella Phage Thanatos Infecting and Lysing Shewanella oneidensis and Promoting Nascent Biofilm Formation

“…In addition, Shewanella sp. have been identified in microbiomes of animals and even humans (Tryfinopoulou et al, 2007;King et al, 2012;Dailey et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2017;Flemer et al, 2017), and some species have emerged as human pathogens (Janda and Abbott, 2014;Martin-Rodriguez et al, 2017;Yousfi et al, 2017).…”