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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4254-4255, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Meningoencephalitis Associated with
Globicatella sanguinis Infection in Lambs
Ana I.
Vela,1
Elena
Fernández,2,
Alfonso
las Heras,1
Paul A.
Lawson,2
Lucas
Domínguez,1
Matthew D.
Collins,2 and
Jose F.
Fernandez-Garayzabal1,*
Departamento de Patología Animal I
(Sanidad Animal), Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense,
28040 Madrid, Spain,1 and Department of
Food Science and Technology, University of Reading, Reading RG6
6AP, United Kingdom2
Received 4 April 2000/Returned for modification 28 July
2000/Accepted 27 August 2000
 |
ABSTRACT |
Thirty lambs displayed symptoms of meningoencephalitis. An unusual
gram-positive coccus was isolated in pure culture from the blood and
brain samples from one of the affected animals, and phenotypic and
phylogenetic characterization showed this to be Globicatella
sanguinis. This is the first report of the isolation of G. sanguinis in pure culture from an animal infection.
| |
TEXT |
Globicatella sanguinis
was described in 1992 as a new genus and species of catalase-negative,
facultatively anaerobic, gram-positive cocci (3). The
organism has been recovered from a variety of human clinical specimens,
including blood of bacteremic patients, urine of patients with urinary
tract infections, cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with meningitis, and
wounds (3, 10). Meningitis and meningoencephalitis are two
of the most frequent pathologies affecting the central nervous system
in domestic animals. A broad range of microorganisms are associated
with these conditions in small ruminants (2), although
Listeria monocytogenes is the pathogen most frequently
implicated (13-15). In this paper, we describe an unusual
outbreak of meningoencephalitis in lambs produced by Globicatella
sanguinis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the
association of G. sanguinis with animal disease.
Case report.
Thirty 8-month-old lambs out of a total of 156 lambs within a flock located in the province of Toledo, central region
of Spain, developed neurological disorders characterized by depression, lack of appetite, ataxia, nystagmus, and pressing the head against the
floor. These clinical symptoms are similar to those produced by
L. monocytogenes, and this bacterium was initially
considered to be the etiological agent, based on the presumptive
clinical diagnosis. Twelve of the affected lambs died between 2 and 5 days after the onset of the symptoms (case fatality rate, 40%). One diseased lamb was sacrificed and necropsied. Macroscopic lesions were
confined to the central nervous system, with congestion and petechiae
in the meninges. Histologic examination revealed a suppurative meningoencephalitis. Gram-positive cocci were observed inside the
meningeal vessels, suggesting a hematogenous dissemination as the
likely route of entry of these organisms into the central nervous
system. Culture of the blood and brain yielded a gram-positive coccus,
which was subsequently identified as G. sanguinis.
Microbiology and identification.
Samples of blood (obtained
prior to the sacrifice) and brain of the necropsied lamb were taken for
bacteriological examination. Blood was cultured according to
conventional protocols (9) with Hemoline performance
Diphasique medium (bioMérieux España, s.a.). The brain
sample was inoculated on Columbia blood agar (bioMérieux
España, s.a.), which was incubated under aerobic and anaerobic
conditions at 37°C. Pure cultures of 
-hemolytic, facultatively
anaerobic, gram-positive, catalase-negative, coccus-shaped organisms
were isolated from both samples. Biochemical identification was
attempted with the commercial rapid ID 32 Strep (bioMérieux España, s.a.). Both isolates showed identical biochemical
profiles, which did not match any of the species identified with this
commercial system. Molecular genetic identification of the clinical
isolates was attempted by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of the brain isolate, as described previously (6). This molecular
technique has been shown to be extremely useful for the identification
of unusual animal pathogens (5, 6, 8, 11). The 16S rRNA gene
sequence determined displayed 99.5% similarity to that of the type
strain of G. sanguinis (CCUG 32999T). The brain
isolate was subjected to further phenotypic characterization and
compared directly with the type strain of G. sanguinis by using the commercial API 20 Strep and rapid ID 32 Strep systems (bioMérieux España, s.a.). Growth in 6.5% NaCl, growth
at 45 and 10°C, and susceptibility to vancomycin were also determined (10). G. sanguinis CCUG 32999T and
the clinical strain produced acid but not gas from glucose. They grew
in 6.5% NaCl, but failed to grow at 10 and 45°C, and were
susceptible to vancomycin. Both strains also displayed biochemical patterns identical to those of the commercial identification systems. The API rapid ID 32 Strep profile 62376273750 did not match any species
identified by this system, whereas the API 20 Strep profile 6116577 corresponded to an unacceptable identification of Aerococcus viridans 1. The phenotypic findings overall are consistent with those described for G. sanguinis, thereby reinforcing the
16S rRNA identification. However, contrary to earlier data
(3), the type strain did not produce acid from sorbitol. The
acidification of sorbitol is, however, variable for G. sanguinis (7). The brain isolate has been deposited in
the Spanish Type Culture Collection as G. sanguinis CECT 5299.
Discussion.
The isolation of G. sanguinis in pure
culture both from blood and brain is strongly indicative of the
clinical significance of this isolate. Although the disease was
bacteriologically confirmed only in one lamb sent to the laboratory,
and no bacteriological analysis of the other affected lambs was
performed, the fact that all animals had identical clinical signs is
strongly indicative that G. sanguinis was also responsible
for the disease in the other lambs. This report indicates that G. sanguinis should be included in the list of possible etiological
agents of disease showing neurological signs in small ruminants. It is
pertinent to note that G. sanguinis is one of a plethora of
gram-positive catalase-negative coccus-shaped taxa described from human
and/or animal clinical sources in the last decade (e.g.,
Helcococcus [4, 6, 12],
Facklamia [7], and
Dolosigranulum [1]). Although the
identification of G. sanguinis and other newly described organisms can be achieved by phenotypic tests, difficulties can often
occur, and the use of molecular genetic tools such as 16S rRNA gene
sequencing should be encouraged for the identification of such
problematic veterinary organisms. This would greatly improve our
knowledge of the host distribution, range of clinical conditions, and
significance of these unusual gram-positive catalase-negative taxa.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
This work has been funded by project AGF98-0829 from the Spanish
Ministry of Education and Culture. E. Fernández and A. las Heras
are recipients of a predoctoral grant from the Spanish Ministry of
Education and Culture.
We thank María Castaño for assistance with the histologic
aspects of this study.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dpto.
Patología Animal I (Sanidad Animal), Facultad de Veterinaria,
Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34 91 3943716. Fax: 34 91 3943908. E-mail:
garayzab{at}eucmax.sim.ucm.es.
Present address: Dpto. Patología Animal I (Sanidad Animal),
Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| |
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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4254-4255, Vol. 38, No. 11
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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