Idiopathic Purulent Pericarditis: A Rare Diagnosis.

BACKGROUND Acute bacterial pericarditis is rare, and the incidence numbers have been declining in the modern antibiotic era. Purulent bacterial pericarditis is a fatal disease in which mortality rates can reach 100% if left untreated. CASE REPORT We present a case of primary purulent bacterial pericarditis with polymicrobial growth including Micromonas micro, Prevotella intermedia and Fusobacterium species, all of which are anaerobic flora of the oral cavity. Constant re-accumulation of the purulent pericardial effusion led the patient to have recurrent echocardiographic and clinical cardiac tamponade requiring recurrent pericardiocentesis' and eventually a pericardial window. CONCLUSIONS Although rare, bacterial pericarditis has been noted to lead to clinical and echocardiographic tamponade. Early diagnosis and treatment are necessary for improving clinical outcomes. It is important to have a suspicion for purulent pericarditis, due to its high level of mortality, in patients who present with non-specific symptoms and pleuritic chest pain.

Recovery of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria from patients with acute appendicitis using blood culture bottles / Recuperación de bacterias aerobias y anaerobias de pacientes con apendicitis aguda mediante botellas de hemocultivo

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is the first cause of acute abdomen, however, there is a little information about the associated bacteria and its sensibility profile. Objetive: To identify and to determine the resistance pattern of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria isolated in periapendicular fluid cultures taken in patients with acute appendicitis and to establish the proportions of isolates according to the clinical phase. Materials and methods: A descriptive and prospective study was undertaken at the Hospital Universitario de San José (Bogotá, Colombia) of patients older than sixteen years of age, undergoing an open appendectomy. A sample of periappendiceal fluid was taken, which was deposited directly into aerobic and anaerobic blood culture bottles. Results: One hundred and fifty-four patients were included. The overall positivity of cultures was 87% (n=1344); 77% (n=118) for aerobes and 51% (n=79) for anaerobes. The proportion of positive cultures was lower in the uncomplicated appendicitis cases as compared to the complicated ones (80% (66/83) vs. 95%(67/71), p = 0.003). The microorganisms isolated most frequently were: Escherichia coli (53%) (n=84); Bacteroides spp. (25%) (n=25); Propionibacterium acnes (21%) (n=21); coagulase negative Staphylococci (17%) (n=27); Enterococcus spp. (11%) (n=15), and Fusobacterium spp. (11%) (n=11). The sensitivity of E. coli to ampicillin/sulbactam was 30%. The sensitivity of Bacteroides spp. to clindamycin and ampicillin/sulbactam was 91%. All anaerobe isolates were sensitive to piperacillin/tazobactam, ertapenem, meropenem and metronidazole. Conclusions: Intraoperative cultures in acute appendicits are relevant in order to determine the local epidemiological pattern and to establish prophylactic and therapeutic antibiotics for this pathology; direct inoculation in blood culture bottles allows a high recovery of microorganisms.

Introduccción. La apendicitis aguda es la primera causa de abdomen agudo; sin embargo, poco se conoce sobre las bacterias asociadas y su perfil de sensibilidad. Objetivo. Identificar y determinar el patrón de resistencia de las bacterias aerobias y anaerobias aisladas en cultivo de líquido periapendicular tomado de los pacientes con apendicitis aguda, y establecer la proporción de bacterias según la fase clínica. Materiales y métodos. Se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo y prospectivo en el Hospital Universitario de San José de Bogotá (Colombia), en pacientes mayores de 16 años sometidos a apendicectomía abierta. Se tomaron muestras de líquido periapendicular, las cuales se sembraron directamente en botellas de hemocultivos para aerobios y anaerobios. Resultados. Se incluyeron 154 pacientes. Del total de cultivos, el 87 % (n=134) fueron positivos: 77 % (n=118) para aerobios y 51 % (n=79) para anaerobios. La proporción de cultivos positivos fue inferior en los casos de apendicitis no complicada, en comparación con aquellos de apendicitis complicada (80 % (66/83) Vs. 95 % (67/71); p=0,003). Los microorganismos aislados con mayor frecuencia fueron: Escherichia coli (53 %) (n=84), Bacteroides sp. (25 %) (n=25), Propionibacterium acnes (21 %) (n=21), Staphylococci coagulasa negativo (17 %) (n=27), Enterococcus sp. (10 %) (n=15) y Fusobacterium sp. (11 %) (n=11). La sensibilidad de E. coli a la amplicilina sulbactam fue de 30 %. La sensibilidad de Bacteroides spp. a la clindamicina y la ampicilina sulbactam fue de 91 %. El 100 % de los anaerobios fueron sensibles a piperacilina tazobactam, ertapenem, meropenem y metronidazol. Conclusiones. Los cultivos intraoperatorios son pertinentes en la apendicitis para determinar el patrón epidemiológico local, y establecer los antibióticos profilácticos y terapéuticos para esta enfermedad. Su siembra directa en botellas de hemocultivo permite una gran recuperación de microorganismos.

Lemierre's syndrome and 2016 American College of Physician guidelines for pharyngitis: no to empiric coverage for bacterial pharyngitis. While no role for routine Fusobacterium PCR, keep suspicion for this pathogen.

An 18-year-old woman presented to clinic with acute pharyngitis with 4/4 Centor criteria. Rapid streptococcal antigen test was negative. The patient, who was allergic to penicillin, was prescribed azithromycin. Ultimately, after 5 days and without any corticosteroids, she presented to the emergency department with 10/10 chest pain and was admitted to the intensive care unit. CT showed nodular lung disease and blood cultures on admission grew Fusobacterium, likely Fusobacterium nucleatum. She sustained two cardiac arrests, three tube thoracostomies, acute kidney injury requiring dialysis and ventilatory failure requiring tracheostomy. After 16 days in hospital and 18 days in long-term acute care, the patient was discharged home. It is unclear how much of this could have been prevented by prescribing an antimicrobial that had activity against Fusobacterium When severe pharyngitis occurs, Fusobacterium needs to be considered as an underlying cause. In vitro macrolides have marginal activity against most anaerobes, such as this pathogen, and should be avoided.

Investigations on the interplays between Schistosoma mansoni, praziquantel and the gut microbiome.

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease burdening millions of people. One drug, praziquantel, is currently used for treatment and control. Clinically relevant drug resistance has not yet been described, but there is considerable heterogeneity in treatment outcomes, ranging from cure to only moderate egg reduction rates. The objectives of this study are to investigate potential worm-induced dysbacteriosis of the gut microbiota and to assess whether a specific microbiome profile could influence praziquantel response. METHODS: Using V3 and V4 regions of 16S rRNA genes, we screened the gut microbiota of 34 Schistosoma mansoni infected and uninfected children from Côte d'Ivoire. From each infected child one pre-treatment, one 24-hour and one 21-day follow-up sample after administering 60 mg/kg praziquantel or placebo, were collected. RESULTS: Overall taxonomic profiling and diversity indicators were found to be close to a "healthy" gut structure in all children. Slight overall compositional changes were observed between S. mansoni-infected and non-infected children. Praziquantel treatment was not linked to a major shift in the gut taxonomic profiles, thus reinforcing the good safety profile of the drug by ruling out off-targets effects on the gut microbes.16S rRNA gene of the Fusobacteriales order was significantly more abundant in cured individuals, both at baseline and 24 hours post-treatment. A real-time qPCR confirmed the over-abundance of Fusobacterium spp. in cured children. Fusobacterium spp. abundance could also be correlated with treatment induced S. mansoni egg-reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that neither a S. mansoni infection nor praziquantel administration triggers a significant effect on the microbial composition and that a higher abundance of Fusobacterium spp., before treatment, is associated with higher efficacy of praziquantel in the treatment of S. mansoni infections. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN15280205 .

Complicated Fusobacterium Sinusitis: A Case Report.

Fusobacterium infections and Lemierre syndrome are traditionally associated with pharyngitis. We report 3 cases of Fusobacterium sinusitis that resulted in Pott puffy tumor. One of these cases also had Lemierre Syndrome. We encourage expansion of the clinical spectrum of Lemierre syndrome to include complicated Fusobacterium sinusitis.

Is Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy Effective for Microbial Load Reduction in Peri-implantitis Treatment? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in the microbiological alteration beneficial to peri-implantitis treatment. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42017064215. Bibliographic databases including Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed were searched from inception to 8 January 2017. The search strategy was assembled from the following MeSH Terms: "Photochemotherapy," "Dental Implants" and "Peri-Implantitis." Unspecific free-text words and related terms were also included. The Cochrane Collaboration's tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias of included studies. The random-effect model was chosen, and heterogeneity was evaluated using the I2 test. Three studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis demonstrated an association between aPDT and reduction in viable bacteria counts for: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (OR = 1.31; confidence interval = 1.13, 1.49; P < 0.00001), Porphyromonas gingivalis (OR = 4.08; confidence interval = 3.22, 4.94; P < 0.00001) and Prevotella intermedia (OR = 1.66; confidence interval = 1.06, 2.26; P < 0.00001). A aPDT appears to be effective in bacterial load reduction in peri-implantitis and has a positive potential as an alternative therapy for peri-implantitis.

Analysis of Fusobacterium persistence and antibiotic response in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancers comprise a complex mixture of malignant cells, nontransformed cells, and microorganisms. Fusobacterium nucleatum is among the most prevalent bacterial species in colorectal cancer tissues. Here we show that colonization of human colorectal cancers with Fusobacterium and its associated microbiome-including Bacteroides, Selenomonas, and Prevotella species-is maintained in distal metastases, demonstrating microbiome stability between paired primary and metastatic tumors. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that Fusobacterium is predominantly associated with cancer cells in the metastatic lesions. Mouse xenografts of human primary colorectal adenocarcinomas were found to retain viable Fusobacterium and its associated microbiome through successive passages. Treatment of mice bearing a colon cancer xenograft with the antibiotic metronidazole reduced Fusobacterium load, cancer cell proliferation, and overall tumor growth. These observations argue for further investigation of antimicrobial interventions as a potential treatment for patients with Fusobacterium-associated colorectal cancer.

In Vitro Activities of Pexiganan and 10 Comparator Antimicrobials against 502 Anaerobic Isolates Recovered from Skin and Skin Structure Infections.

Pexiganan, a cationic peptide, exhibited a broad range of anti-anaerobic antimicrobial activity. The MIC90s of studied isolates were as follows: Bacteroides fragilis, 16 µg/ml; other B. fragilis group spp., 4 µg/ml; Prevotella and Fusobacterium spp., 32 µg/ml; Porphyromonas spp., 64 µg/ml; Propionibacterium acnes, 4 µg/ml; Eggerthella lenta and Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, 32 µg/ml; other Gram-positive rods and cocci, 4 µg/ml; Clostridium perfringens, 128 µg/ml; and other clostridia, 256 µg/ml. Pexiganan cream shows potential as adjunctive therapy for skin and skin structure infections (SSSIs) involving anaerobes.

Antimicrobial efficacy of irradiation with visible light on oral bacteria in vitro: a systematic review.

AIM: Resistances to antibiotics employed for treatment of infectious diseases have increased to alarming numbers making it more and more difficult to treat diseases caused by microorganisms resistant to common antibiotics. Consequently, novel methods for successful inactivation of pathogens are required. In this instance, one alternative could be application of light for treatment of topical infections. Antimicrobial properties of UV light are well documented, but due to its DNA-damaging properties use for medical purposes is limited. In contrast, irradiation with visible light may be more promising. METHODS: Literature was systematically screened for research concerning inactivation of main oral bacterial species by means of visible light. RESULTS: Inactivation of bacterial species, especially pigmented ones, in planktonic state showed promising results. There is a lack of research examining the situation when organized as biofilms. CONCLUSION: More research concerning situation in a biofilm state is required.

Combined antioxidant effects of Neem extract, bacteria, red blood cells and Lysozyme: possible relation to periodontal disease.

BACKGROUND: The common usage of chewing sticks prepared from Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) in India suggests its potential efficacy in periodontal diseases. The objective of this study is to explore the antibacterial effects of Neem leaf extract on the periodontophatic bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, and its antioxidant capacities alone and in combination with bacteria and polycationic peptides that may be at the site of inflammation. METHODS: Neem leaf extract was prepared by ethanol extraction. The growth kinetics of P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum under anaerobic conditions in the presence of Neem leaf extract were measured. Broth microdilution test was used to determine the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of Neem leaf extract against each bacterial strain. The effect of Neem leaf extract on the coaggregation of the bacteria was assessed by a visual semi-quantitative assay. The antioxidant capacities of Neem leaf extract alone and in combination with bacteria, with the addition of red blood cells or the polycationic peptides chlorhexidine and lisozyme, were determined using a chemiluminescence assay. RESULTS: Neem leaf extract showed prominent dose-dependent antibacterial activity against P. gingivalis, however, had no effect on the growth of F. nucleatum nor on the coaggregation of the two bacteria. Yet, it showed intense antioxidant activity, which was amplified following adherence to bacteria and with the addition of red blood cells or the polycationic peptides. CONCLUSIONS: Neem leaf extract, containing polyphenols that adhere to oral surfaces, have the potential to provide long-lasting antibacterial as well as synergic antioxidant activities when in complex with bacteria, red blood cells and lisozyme. Thus, it might be especially effective in periodontal diseases.

Amino Acid Block Copolymers with Broad Antimicrobial Activity and Barrier Properties.

Antimicrobial properties of a long-chain, synthetic, cationic, and hydrophobic amino acid block copolymer are reported. In 5 and 60 min time-kill assays, solutions of K100 L40 block copolymers (poly(l-lysine·hydrochloride)100 -b-poly(l-leucine)40 ) at concentrations of 10-100 µg mL-1 show multi-log reductions in colony forming units of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as yeast, including multidrug-resistant strains. Driven by association of hydrophobic segments, K100 L40 copolymers form viscous solutions and self-supporting hydrogels in water at concentrations of 1 and 2 wt%, respectively. These K100 L40 preparations provide an effective barrier to microbial contamination of wounds, as measured by multi-log decreases of tissue-associated bacteria with deliberate inoculation of porcine skin explants, porcine open wounds, and rodent closed wounds with foreign body. Based on these findings, amino acid copolymers with the features of K100 L40 can combine potent, direct antimicrobial activity and barrier properties in one biopolymer for a new approach to prevention of wound infections.

Clinical characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibilities of anaerobic bacteremia in an acute care hospital.

This study investigated the clinical features of anaerobic bacteraemia in an acute-care hospital, and evaluated the antimicrobial susceptibility of these isolates to commonly available antibiotics. Microbiological and epidemiological data from 2009 to 2011were extracted from the laboratory information system and electronic medical records. One hundred and eleven unique patient episodes consisting of 116 anaerobic isolates were selected for clinical review and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Susceptibilities to amoxicillin-clavulanate, clindamycin, imipenem, metronidazole, moxifloxacin, penicillin and piperacillin-tazobactam were performed using Etest strips with categorical interpretations according to current CLSI breakpoints. Metronidazole-resistant and carbapenem-resistant anaerobic Gram-negative bacilli were screened for the nim and cfiA genes. Clinical data was obtained retrospectively from electronic medical records. During the 3 year period, Bacteroides fragilis group (41%), Clostridium species (14%), Propionibacterium species (9%) and Fusobacterium species (6%) were the most commonly isolated anaerobes. Patients with anaerobic bacteraemia that were included in the study were predominantly above 60 years of age, with community-acquired infections. The most commonly used empiric antibiotic therapies were beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations (44%) and metronidazole (10%). The crude mortality was 25%, and appropriate initial antibiotic therapy was not significantly associated with improved survival. Intra-abdominal infections (39%) and soft-tissue infections (33%) accounted for nearly three-quarters of all bacteraemia. Antibiotics with the best anaerobic activity were imipenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, amoxicillin-clavulanate and metronidazole, with in-vitro susceptibility rates of 95%, 95%, 94% and 92% respectively. Susceptibilities to penicillin (31%), clindamycin (60%) and moxifloxacin (84%) were more variable. Two multidrug-resistant isolates of Bacteroides species were positive for nim and cfiA genes respectively, while another two imipenem-resistant Fusobacterium species were negative for cfiA genes. This study demonstrated that anaerobic bacteraemia in our patient population was predominantly associated with intra-abdominal and soft-tissue infections. Overall antibiotic resistance was high for penicillin and clindamycin, and the presence of emerging resistance to carbapenems and metronidazole warrants further monitoring.

Severe forefoot infection complicated by Fusobacterium russii.

We present the first case of a complicated foot infection caused by Fusobacterium russii in Austria. F. russii is highly associated with mammals such as cats and dogs. Our case underlines the difficulties in isolation and identification of anaerobes and the pitfalls in antimicrobial treatment of polymicrobial infections.

Effects of limonene on ruminal concentrations, fermentation, and lysine degradation in cattle.

Previous in vitro data showed that was inhibited by limonene. We further evaluated effects of limonene on growth of in vitro as well as on ruminal concentrations of in vivo. With in vitro cultivation in anaerobic brain-heart infusion broth, limonene decreased growth of . Thymol also reduced growth of , but it was less effective than limonene. Tylosin effectively reduced growth of in vitro. Although the response over fermentation times and concentrations of antimicrobials differed somewhat between tylosin and limonene, the 2 antimicrobial agents yielded similar inhibitory effects on growth of at concentrations ranging from 6 to 24 mg/L. The effects of limonene on ruminal concentration in vivo were tested in 7 ruminally cannulated heifers (225 kg initial BW) used in a 7 × 4 Youden square design. Treatments included: 1) control, 2) limonene at 10 mg/kg diet DM, 3) limonene at 20 mg/kg diet DM, 4) limonene at 40 mg/kg diet DM, 5) limonene at 80 mg/kg diet DM, 6) CRINA-L (a blend of essential oil components) at 180 mg/kg diet DM, and 7) tylosin at 12 mg/kg diet DM. Each period included 11 d with 10 d washouts between periods. Samples of ruminal contents were collected before treatment initiation and after 4, 7, and 10 d of treatment for measuring by the most probable number method using selective culture medium. Limonene linearly decreased ( = 0.03) ruminal concentration, with the lowest concentration achieved with 40 mg of limonene/kg dietary DM. Limonene tended ( ≤ 0.07) to linearly reduce ruminal molar proportions of propionate and valerate while tending to linearly increase ( ≤ 0.10) those of butyrate and 2-methyl butyrate. Limonene did not affect ruminal NH concentrations or degradation rates of lysine. Neither CRINA-L ( = 0.52) nor tylosin ( = 0.19) affected ruminal concentrations. CRINA-L significantly decreased ruminal concentrations of NH and molar proportions of 3-methyl butyrate, whereas tylosin significantly decreased molar proportions of propionate while increasing those of butyrate and tending to increase those of acetate. Limonene supplementation reduced ruminal concentrations of suggesting that it may have the potential to reduce the prevalence of liver abscesses, although further research is needed to assess the effect of limonene in feedlot cattle.

Antimicrobial activity of a quaternary ammonium methacryloxy silicate-containing acrylic resin: a randomised clinical trial.

Quaternary ammonium methacryloxy silicate (QAMS)-containing acrylic resin demonstrated contact-killing antimicrobial ability in vitro after three months of water storage. The objective of the present double-blind randomised clinical trial was to determine the in vivo antimicrobial efficacy of QAMS-containing orthodontic acrylic by using custom-made removable retainers that were worn intraorally by 32 human subjects to create 48-hour multi-species plaque biofilms, using a split-mouth study design. Two control QAMS-free acrylic disks were inserted into the wells on one side of an orthodontic retainer, and two experimental QAMS-containing acrylic disks were inserted into the wells on the other side of the same retainer. After 48 hours, the disks were retrieved and examined for microbial vitality using confocal laser scanning microscopy. No harm to the oral mucosa or systemic health occurred. In the absence of carry-across effect and allocation bias (disks inserted in the left or right side of retainer), significant difference was identified between the percentage kill in the biovolume of QAMS-free control disks (3.73 ± 2.11%) and QAMS-containing experimental disks (33.94 ± 23.88%) retrieved from the subjects (P ≤ 0.001). The results validated that the QAMS-containing acrylic exhibits favourable antimicrobial activity against plaque biofilms in vivo. The QAMS-containing acrylic may also be used for fabricating removable acrylic dentures.

Mechanistic analysis of PLGA/HPMC-based in-situ forming implants for periodontitis treatment.

In-situ forming implant formulations based on poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), acetyltributyl citrate (ATBC), minocycline HCl, N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) and optionally hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) were prepared and thoroughly characterized in vitro. This includes electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR), mass change and drug release measurements under different conditions, optical microscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) as well as antibacterial activity tests using gingival crevicular fluid samples from periodontal pockets of periodontitis patients. Based on these results, deeper insight into the physico-chemical phenomena involved in implant formation and the control of drug release could be gained. For instance, the effects of adding HPMC to the formulations, resulting in improved implant adherence and reduced swelling, could be explained. Importantly, the in-situ formed implants effectively hindered the growth of bacteria present in the patients' periodontal pockets. Interestingly, the systems were more effectively hindering the growth of pathogenic bacterial strains (e.g., Fusobacterium nucleatum) than that of strains with a lower pathogenic potential (e.g., Streptococcus salivarius). In vivo, such a preferential action against the pathogenic bacteria can be expected to give a chance to the healthy flora to re-colonize the periodontal pockets.

Enabling virtual screening of potent and safer antimicrobial agents against noma: mtk-QSBER model for simultaneous prediction of antibacterial activities and ADMET properties.

Neglected diseases are infections that thrive mainly among underdeveloped countries, particularly those belonging to regions found in Asia, Africa, and America. One of the most complex diseases is noma, a dangerous health condition characterized by a polymicrobial and opportunistic nature. The search for potent and safer antibacterial agents against this disease is therefore a goal of particular interest. Chemoinformatics can be used to rationalize the discovery of drug candidates, diminishing time and financial resources. However, in the case of noma, there is no in silico model available for its use in the discovery of efficacious antibacterial agents. This work is devoted to report the first mtk-QSBER model, which integrates dissimilar kinds of chemical and biological data. The model was generated with the aim of simultaneously predicting activity against bacteria present in noma, and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicity) parameters. The mtk-QSBER model was constructed by employing a large and heterogeneous dataset of chemicals and displayed accuracies higher than 90% in both training and prediction sets. We confirmed the practical applicability of the model by predicting multiple profiles of the investigational antibacterial drug delafloxacin, and the predictions converged with the experimental reports. To date, this is the first model focused on the virtual search for desirable anti-noma agents.

Evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility of Bacteroides, Prevotella and Fusobacterium species isolated from patients of the N. N. Blokhin Cancer Research Center, Moscow, Russia.

In total 122 non-duplicate Bacteroides, Prevotella and Fusobacterium spp isolated from cancer patients between 2004 and 2014 were involved in this study. Most of the strains belonged to the B. fragilis group (55%), followed by Prevotella strains (34.4%) and Fusobacterium spp (10.6%). The species identification was carried out by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and they were identified on species level with a log (score) >2.0. The most common isolates were B. fragilis, B. thetaiotaomicron, B. ovatus and B. vulgatus. Among Prevotella species, the most frequently isolated species were P. buccae, P. buccalis, P. oris, P. denticola and P. nigrescens, and most of the Fusobacterium spp. were F. nucleatum. Susceptibilities of the strains were determined by the E-test methodology. The percentage of the susceptibility of B. fragilis group isolates were: metronidazole (MIC ≤4 µg/ml), 97%; imipenem (MIC ≤2 µg/ml), 95.5%; amoxicillin/clavulanate (MIC ≤4 µg/ml), 95.5% and clindamycin (MIC ≤4 µg/ml), 77.6%. Three B. fragilis isolates proved to be multidrug-resistant (parallel resistance to imipenem, amoxicillin/clavulanate and metronidazole or clindamycin was observed). All Prevotella strains tested were susceptible to imipenem and amoxicillin/clavulanate, whereas 78.6% of the pigmented Prevotella species and 46.4% of the non-pigmented species were resistant to penicillin (MIC >0.5 µg/ml). The susceptibility to metronidazole and clindamycin were 93% and 88%, respectively. All Fusobacterium strains were sensitive to all tested antibiotics, including penicillin.

Characterization of Fusobacterium isolates from the respiratory tract of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

A total of 23 clinical isolates of Fusobacterium spp. were recovered at necropsy over a 2-year period from the respiratory tract of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Isolates were identified as Fusobacterium varium (18/23), Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. funduliforme (3/23), and Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. necrophorum (2/23). Using polymerase chain reaction-based detection of virulence genes, all F. necrophorum isolates were positive for the promoter region of the leukotoxin operon and the hemagglutinin-related protein gene, while all F. varium isolates were negative. The presence of the leukotoxin gene in F. necrophorum isolates and the absence of this gene in F. varium isolates were confirmed by Southern hybridization using 2 separate probes. Toxicity to bovine polymorphonuclear leukocytes was observed with all F. necrophorum isolates, but was not observed in any F. varium isolates. Susceptibility to antimicrobials was markedly different for F. varium as compared to F. necrophorum. In summary, no evidence of leukotoxin production was detected in any of the 23 F. varium isolates used in the current study. The data suggests that F. varium, the most common species isolated, may be a significant pathogen in deer with a different virulence mechanism than F. necrophorum.