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. 2005 Sep;43(9):4377-81.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.43.9.4377-4381.2005.

Characterization of toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans strains isolated from humans and domestic cats in the United Kingdom

Aruni De Zoysa  1 , Peter M Hawkey, Kathy Engler, Robert George, Gina Mann, William Reilly, David Taylor, Androulla Efstratiou
Affiliations

Characterization of toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans strains isolated from humans and domestic cats in the United Kingdom

Aruni De Zoysa et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

In the United Kingdom there has been a marked increase in the number of human infections caused by toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans. During 2002 and 2003 the organism was also isolated from several domestic cats with bilateral nasal discharge. As C. ulcerans has never previously been isolated from cats, the 16S rRNA gene from three cat isolates was sequenced to confirm their species identities. Fifty clinical isolates from the United Kingdom isolated from 1986 to 2003 and seven cat isolates were characterized by ribotyping to determine whether the ribotypes of the cat isolates were genotypically related to those found for human clinical isolates. For comparison, the genotypes of 11 overseas isolates and 13 isolates from H. R. Carne's collection isolated between 1933 and 1979 were also determined. Strains isolated from domestic cats were found to exhibit the predominant ribotypes observed among human clinical isolates, suggesting that C. ulcerans isolated from cats could be a potential reservoir for human infection.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Number of clinical isolates of C. ulcerans submitted to the Public Health Laboratory Service Diphtheria Reference Unit from 1986 to 2003.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
BstEII rRNA gene profiles of C. ulcerans. Lanes 1, 5, 10, and 13, molecular size standard (sizes are indicated on the left); lanes 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, U1 to U9 ribotypes of C. ulcerans, respectively (the ribotypes are indicated above each lane).
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Dendrogram showing the percent similarity of the rRNA gene profiles of C. ulcerans isolates from humans and domestic cats. The isolates obtained from cats are underlined.
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