[Acute Necrotizing Pneumonia in Blue Tits - Implications for Pulmonology in Dialogue with Veterinary Medicine]. / Akut nekrotisierende Pneumonie bei Blaumeisen.

At the beginning of March 2020, observations of an increasing number of dead blue tits increased. The sick tits suffered among others from respiratory symptoms. The reason for the mass extinction initially remained unclear. By the beginning of May, around 18,000 reports of suspected blue tit deaths with around 33,000 affected birds had been received. The maximum was almost 1,300 reports on April 10th. The number of reports decreased again during the following weeks. According to estimates, about 1,7 million blue tits died in Germany during this time.In a large number of the tits examined, the bacterium Suttonella ornithocola was detected in the lungs.Since the pathogen causes pneumonia, transmission via aerosol or through contact with infected secretions is to be assumed.Autopsies showed lung congestion, bloody intestinal contents and poor nutritional status. Histologically, mild to moderate acute necrotizing pneumonia was found. Since Suttonella ornithocola was also found in the parenchyma of the large organs, an additional acute sepsis can be assumed. Suttonella ornithocola could also be an intestinal pathogen, since Suttonella ornithocola was found in the intestine in addition to bloody intestinal contents, but at the same time no recognized intestinal pathogens were detected. The faeco-oral route of infection is therefore also possible.

Suttonella indologenes peritonitis in a patient receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Suttonella indologenes is a Gram-negative, aerobic coccobacillus of Cardiobacteriaceae family and its natural habitat is the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory system. The literature includes limited number of case reports concerning fatal endocarditis due to infection in the prosthetic heart valves caused by the aforementioned microorganism. However, there is no information on extracardiac involvement due to this microorganism. Here, we present a peritonitis case caused by Suttonella indologenes in a patient receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Acute necrotising pneumonitis associated with Suttonella ornithocola infection in tits (Paridae).

Suttonella ornithocola, first isolated from the lungs of British tit species in 1996, was found to be a novel bacterium belonging to the family Cardiobacteriaceae. Comprehensive surveillance of garden bird mortality across Great Britain between April 2005 and April 2009 involved post mortem and microbiological examination of 82 tits (Paridae; multiple species) and six long-tailed tits (Aegithalidae; Aegithalos caudatus). S. ornithocola was isolated from six birds submitted from six incidents of morbidity and mortality involving Paridae and Aegithalidae species with a wide geographical distribution. The mortality incidents occurred sporadically at low incidence throughout the study period, which suggested that the infection is endemic in native bird populations, with a seasonal peak during early spring. Histopathological examination showed multiple foci of acute pulmonary necrosis associated with gram-negative cocco-bacillary bacteria. These findings supported the hypothesis that S. ornithocola is a primary pathogen of tits in Great Britain.

Pulmonary embolus caused by Suttonella indologenes prosthetic endocarditis in a pulmonary homograft.

A 28-year-old Cambodian man with a history of congenital heart disease presented with a 6-month history of increasing fatigue, night sweats, and weight loss. His surgical history included two Blalock-Taussig shunts, ventricular septal defect closure, and placement of a pulmonary valve conduit via a Rastelli procedure. Echocardiographic and cardiac computed tomographic studies revealed a vegetation in the pulmonary homograft. Blood cultures grew gram-negative rods that were eventually identified as Suttonella indologenes. The patient underwent a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotics, which was complicated by septic pulmonary embolism that clinically resolved. Bacterial endocarditis caused by aerobic gram-negative organisms is uncommon. The authors report the first case of S. indologenes endocarditis in a patient with complex congenital heart disease.

Suttonella ornithocola sp. nov., from birds of the tit families, and emended description of the genus Suttonella.

Phenotypic and phylogenetic studies were performed on three strains of Gram-negative, rod-shaped organisms recovered from dead birds of the tit families (blue tit, coal tit and long-tailed tit). Morphological, cultural and biochemical studies indicated that the organisms were related to the family Cardiobacteriaceae in the gamma-subclass of the Proteobacteria. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing studies confirmed these findings and demonstrated that the bacterium represents a hitherto unknown subline within this family. The closest phylogenetic relative of the strains isolated from the birds was found to be Suttonella indologenes, although a sequence divergence of approximately 5 % demonstrated that the unknown bacterium represented a novel species. On the basis of the results of the phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic criteria, it is proposed that the bacteria recovered from the diseased birds represent a novel species, Suttonella ornithocola sp. nov., with strain B6/99/2T (=CCUG 49457T=NCTC 13337T) as the type strain.