Brucellosis is a zoonosis with non-specific clinical symptoms involving multiple systems and organs. Its prevalence is low in most of EU countries, which can lead to the difficulties in laboratory and clinical diagnostic. Due to its relationship to the Ochrobactrum spp., it may be misclassified in rapid identification systems. We present a case of a 13-year-old immunocompetent girl who was examined several times for fever, fatigue, night sweats and weight loss; laboratory results showed mildly elevated C-reactive protein, anaemia and leukopenia. Four weeks before the onset of symptoms, she had been on a family holiday in Egypt. Given her symptoms, a haemato-oncological or autoimmune disease was considered more likely. The diagnosis of Brucella spondylitis was made after 4 months. The main reasons for this delay were as follows: low specificity of clinical symptoms, delay in completing the travel history, inconclusive initial serological results and misidentification of the blood culture isolate as Ochrobactrum sp. Even in countries with a low incidence of brucellosis, it is essential to educate healthcare professionals about the disease. Low specificity of symptoms and limited experience of laboratory staff may lead to late diagnosis with risk of complications and poor outcome. If Ochrobactrum spp. is detected in clinical specimens by rapid identification, careful re-evaluation must follow and all measures to prevent laboratory-acquired infections must be taken until Brucella spp. is unequivocally excluded.
- MeSH
- Bacteremia * diagnosis microbiology MeSH
- Brucella isolation & purification classification MeSH
- Brucellosis * diagnosis microbiology MeSH
- Diagnostic Errors * MeSH
- Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections diagnosis microbiology MeSH
- Fever * microbiology etiology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Ochrobactrum * genetics isolation & purification MeSH
- Spondylitis microbiology diagnosis MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Case Reports MeSH
- Geographicals
- Egypt MeSH
The evolutionary "success" of the genus Brucella depends on the ability to persist both in the environment as well as inside of even activated macrophages of the animal host. For that, the Brucellae produce catalase and superoxide dismutase to defend against oxidative stress. Since the deletion of the mglA gene in the B. abortus S19 vaccine strain resulted not only in an increased tolerance to H2O2 but also in the induction of cytokines in macrophages, we here investigated the effect of oxidative stress (Fe2+ and H2O2) on the survival of B. abortus S19 and the isogenic B. abortus S 19 ∆mglA 3.14 deletion mutant in comparison with B. neotomae 5K33, Brucella strain 83/13, and B. microti CCM4915. These Brucellae belong to different phylogenetic clades and show characteristic differences in the mgl-operon. From the various Brucellae tested, B. abortus S19 showed the highest susceptibility to oxidative stress and the lowest ability to survive inside of murine macrophages. B. abortus S19 ∆mglA 3.14 as well as B. neotomae, which also belongs to the classical core clade of Brucella and lacks the regulators of the mgl-operon, presented the highest degree of tolerance to H2O2 but not in the survival in macrophages. The latter was most pronounced in case of an infection with B. 83/13 and B. microti CCM4915. The various Brucellae investigated here demonstrate significant differences in tolerance against oxidative stress and different survival in murine macrophages, which, however, do not correlate directly.
- MeSH
- Adenosine Triphosphate metabolism MeSH
- Genes, Bacterial MeSH
- Brucella abortus physiology MeSH
- Brucella classification physiology MeSH
- Cell Line MeSH
- Cytokines metabolism MeSH
- Species Specificity MeSH
- Macrophages immunology microbiology MeSH
- Microbial Viability MeSH
- Mutation MeSH
- Mice MeSH
- Oxidative Stress * MeSH
- Hydrogen Peroxide metabolism MeSH
- Colony Count, Microbial MeSH
- Iron metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Mice MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
From the mandibular lymph nodes of wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) hunted in the region of Gmünd, Lower Austria, two gram-negative, oxidase- and urease-positive, coccoid rod-shaped bacteria (strains 257 and 284) were isolated. Cells were fast growing, nonmotile, and agglutinated with monospecific anti-Brucella (M) serum. Both strains were biochemically identified as Ochrobactrum anthropi by using the API 20NE test. However, sequencing of the 16S rRNA and recA genes clearly identified strains 257 and 284 as Brucella spp. Further molecular analysis by omp2a/b gene sequencing, multilocus sequence typing and multilocus variable number tandem repeats analysis revealed Brucella microti, a recently described Brucella species that has originally been isolated from diseased common voles (Microtus arvalis) in South Moravia, Czech Republic in 2000. Our findings demonstrate that B. microti is prevalent in a larger geographic area covering the region of South Moravia and parts of Lower Austria. Foxes could have become infected by ingestion of infected common voles.
- MeSH
- Brucella classification genetics isolation & purification MeSH
- Brucellosis epidemiology microbiology veterinary MeSH
- Genotype MeSH
- Foxes * MeSH
- Lymph Nodes microbiology MeSH
- Mandible MeSH
- Ochrobactrum anthropi classification isolation & purification MeSH
- Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins genetics MeSH
- Rec A Recombinases genetics MeSH
- RNA, Ribosomal, 16S genetics MeSH
- Sequence Analysis MeSH
- Geography MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic MeSH
- Austria MeSH
WHO technical report series ; no. 740
132 stran : tabulky ; 20 cm
- MeSH
- Brucella genetics immunology classification MeSH
- Brucellosis diagnosis epidemiology drug therapy immunology MeSH
- Communicable Disease Control MeSH
- Preventive Medicine MeSH
- Vaccination MeSH
- Health Planning Organizations MeSH
- Conspectus
- Patologie. Klinická medicína
- NML Fields
- zemědělství a potravinářství
- infekční lékařství
- NML Publication type
- publikace WHO
- MeSH
- Amylases isolation & purification MeSH
- Bacteria MeSH
- Brucella abortus enzymology isolation & purification MeSH
- Brucella suis enzymology isolation & purification MeSH
- Brucella * enzymology isolation & purification classification MeSH
- Brucellosis enzymology metabolism MeSH
- Hydrolases isolation & purification MeSH
- Catalase isolation & purification MeSH
- Lipase isolation & purification MeSH
- Serologic Tests * methods utilization MeSH
- Bacterial Typing Techniques * methods utilization MeSH
- Urease isolation & purification MeSH
- Zoonoses enzymology MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
