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Case Reports
. 2010 Apr;16(4):688-91.
doi: 10.3201/eid1604.091107.

Novel Corynebacterium diphtheriae in domestic cats

Aron J Hall  1 , Pamela K Cassiday, Kathryn A Bernard, Frances Bolt, Arnold G Steigerwalt, Danae Bixler, Lucia C Pawloski, Anne M Whitney, Masaaki Iwaki, Adam Baldwin, Christopher G Dowson, Takako Komiya, Motohide Takahashi, Hans P Hinrikson, Maria L Tondella
Affiliations
Case Reports

Novel Corynebacterium diphtheriae in domestic cats

Aron J Hall et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 Apr.

Abstract

Novel nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae was isolated from a domestic cat with severe otitis. Contact investigation and carrier study of human and animal contacts yielded 3 additional, identical isolates from cats, although no evidence of zoonotic transmission was identified. Molecular methods distinguished the feline isolates from known C. diphtheriae.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of Corynebacterium diphtheriae isolates, including 4 feline isolates from West Virginia, 2008 (ATCC BAA-1774, CD 448, CD 449, CD 450). The tree was constructed from a 1,437-bp alignment of 16S rRNA gene sequences by using the neighbor-joining method and Kimura 2-parameter substitution model. Bootstrap values (expressed as percentages of 1,000 replicates) >40% are illustrated at branch points. Feline isolates had 100% identity with each other and >99.1% identity with C. diphtheriae biotypes gravis and belfanti. GenBank accession nos. given in parentheses. ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; CD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifier number; NCTC, National Collection of Type Cultures. Scale bar indicates number of substitutions per site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Jukes-Cantor–derived phylogenetic tree based on sequence analysis of a selected region of the rpoB gene of Corynebacterium isolates, including 2 feline isolates from West Virginia, 2008 (ATCC BAA-1774, CD 450). Feline isolates had 100% identity with each other and 97.7% identity with C. diphtheriae biotypes gravis and belfanti. GenBank accession nos. given in parentheses. ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; CD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifier number; NCTC, National Collection of Type Cultures. Scale bar indicates number of substitutions per site.
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References

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