Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae: an occupational pathogen

Abstract

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a nonsporulating, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium which was identified more than 100 years ago as the etiologic agent of swine erysipelas. Since then, it has been found to cause infection in several dozen species of mammals and other animals. Humans become infected through exposure to infected or contaminated animals or animal products. By far the most common type of human infection is a localized, self-limited cutaneous lesion, erysipeloid. Diffuse cutaneous and systemic infections occur rarely. Approximately 50 cases of endocarditis have been reported; all but one recent case have involved native valves. The organism may be isolated from biopsy or blood specimens on standard culture media. It is identified by morphology, lack of motility, and biochemical characteristics; identification may be confirmed by the mouse protection test. It is susceptible to penicillins, cephalosporins, erythromycin, and clindamycin, but it is often resistant to many other antibiotics, including vancomycin, a drug frequently used in empiric therapy for infections due to gram-positive bacteria.

A Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction for Discriminating Erysipelothrix Rhusiopathiae from Erysipelothrix Tonsillarum

“…The causative agent, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, is a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium that can induce a variety of clinical diseases in animals and humans. 10,18,19 It is important to distinguish E. rhusiopathiae from Erysipelothrix tonsillarum in slaughterhouses because E. tonsillarum, which is virtually nonpathogenic for swine, 13 is indistinguishable from E. rhusiopathiae using conventional diagnostic bacterial tests. 19 Several methods are routinely used for distinguishing between the 2 bacterial species: multilocus electrophoresis, 3 serotyping, 5 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA pattern, 9 production of neuraminidase, 15 and fermentation pattern of glucose or sucrose.…”

A child with Erysipelothrix arthritis–beware of the little known

“…The child in this report also responded favourably to surgical decompression of the joint and antibiotics. This is probably on account of the fact that most strains of this organism are highly susceptible to penicillins, cephalosporins, erythromycin, and clindamycin [3] .…”

“…In humans, it can cause mild cutaneous (erysipeloid) or diffuse cutaneous infection in persons occupationally exposed to animals [2] . Rarely septic arthritis and other serious systemic complications like septicaemia and endocarditis can occur [3] . To our knowledge, all reported cases of septic arthritis caused by E. rhusiopathiae so far are in adults [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] .…”

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae pneumonia in an immunocompetent patient

“…It is ubiquitous in nature, being found as a saphrophyte in most animals. Human E. rhusiopathiae infections can occur from contact with infected animals, their secretions or waste products, or organic matter contaminated by any of these (Reboli & Farrar, 1989;Brooke & Riley, 1999;Wang et al, 2010).…”

“…E. rhusiopathiae causes infections primarily in animals; in humans it usually causes occupational diseases in people in contact with infected animals (Reboli & Farrar, 1989;Brooke & Riley, 1999;Wang et al, 2010). There are three well-defined clinical categories of the human disease: (i) a localized cutaneous form, erysipeloid, (ii) a generalized cutaneous form and (iii) an invasive septic form which is often associted with endocarditis.…”