Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan 27;10(2):127.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens10020127.

Acinetobacter baumannii: Its Clinical Significance in Human and Veterinary Medicine

Francesca Paola Nocera  1 , Anna-Rita Attili  2 , Luisa De Martino  1
Affiliations
Review

Acinetobacter baumannii: Its Clinical Significance in Human and Veterinary Medicine

Francesca Paola Nocera et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative, opportunistic pathogen, causing severe infections difficult to treat. The A. baumannii infection rate has increased year by year in human medicine and it is also considered as a major cause of nosocomial infections worldwide. This bacterium, also well known for its ability to form biofilms, has a strong environmental adaptability and the characteristics of multi-drug resistance. Indeed, strains showing fully resistant profiles represent a worrisome problem in clinical therapeutic treatment. Furthermore, A. baumannii-associated veterinary nosocomial infections has been reported in recent literature. Particularly, carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii can be considered an emerging opportunistic pathogen in human medicine as well as in veterinary medicine.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; biofilms; human medicine; multi-drug resistance; veterinary medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Bouvet P.J.M., Grimont P.A.D. Taxonomy of the genus Acinetobacter with the recognition of Acinetobacter baumannii sp. nov., Acinetobacter haemolyticus sp. nov., Acinetobacter johnsonii sp. nov., and Acinetobacter junii sp. nov. and emended descriptions of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Acinetobacter lwoffii. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1986;36:228–240.
    1. Rossau R., Van Landschoot A., Gillis M., De Ley J. Taxonomy of Moraxellaceae fam. nov., a new bacterial family to accommodate the genera Moraxella, Acinetobacter, and Psychrobacter and related organisms. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 1991;41:310–329. doi: 10.1099/00207713-41-2-310. - DOI
    1. Nemec A., Krizova L., Maixnerova M., van der Reijden T.J., Deschaght P., Passet V., Vaneechoutte M., Brisse S., Dijkshoorn L. Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-Acinetobacter baumannii complex with the proposal of Acinetobacter pittii sp. nov. (formerly Acinetobacter genomic species 3) and Acinetobacter nosocomialis sp. nov. (formerly Acinetobacter genomic species 13TU) Res. Microbiol. 2011;162:393–404. - PubMed
    1. Marí-Almirall M., Cosgaya C., Higgins P.G., Van Assche A., Telli M., Huys G., Lievens B., Seifert H., Dijkshoorn L., Roca I., et al. MALDI-TOF/MS identification of species from the Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab) group revisited: Inclusion of the novel A. seifertii and A. dijkshoorniae species. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2017;23:210. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.11.020. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parte A.C. LPSN—List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (bacterio.net), 20 years on. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 2018;68:1825–1829. doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.002786. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources