Corynebacterium species nasal carriage in pigs and their farmers in Bavaria, Germany: implications for public health

Abstract

Reports on cases of human diphtheria caused by toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans that were linked to occupational swine contact as well as isolation of C ulcerans from wild boars have suggested that pigs might serve as reservoir for human infections. Therefore, a prevalence study on Corynebacterium species nasal carriage in pigs and their farmers was performed between August 1 and December 31, 2009, in 41 swine farms from Bavaria, Germany. All 411 asymptomatic pigs and 29 of 30 healthy farmers were colonised with Corynebacterium strains of up to 11 different species. No potentially toxigenic Corynebacterium strain was isolated either from the pigs or from their farmers, respectively. The patterns of the species composition in the pigs and the farmers were very similar, suggesting a potential transmission of strains between animals and humans.

Toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans isolated from a wild bird (ural owl) and its feed (shrew-moles): comparison of molecular types with human isolates

“…Companion animals such as dogs [ 5 – 9 ] and cats [ 10 – 13 ], as well as pigs [ 14 , 15 ] have been shown to harbor C. ulcerans and may play a role as sources of infection for human. However, whether cats or dogs are the natural hosts for the bacterium is still unknown.…”

Viral and Bacterial Profiles in Endemic Influenza A Virus Infected Swine Herds Using Nanopore Metagenomic Sequencing on Tracheobronchial Swabs

“…Interestingly, some of these have been associated with respiratory disease, as exemplified for porcine astrovirus type 4 and Corynebacterium , which is a known opportunistic pathogen that causes purulent infections (e.g., Corynebacterium pyogenes ) ( 52 , 53 ). The latter is also considered to be important from the One Health perspective, as different cases of human infections after contact with pigs have been reported ( 54 ). Hence, this highlights the potential added value of metagenomics-driven diagnostics for both animals and humans.…”

Zoonotic transmission of diphtheria toxin‐producing Corynebacterium ulcerans

“…Several prevalence studies (of between 60 and 13,310 animals, Table 1) have indicated that the bacteria may be carried by 0.4%–29% of monkeys in closed breeding colonies (Hirai‐Yuki et al., 2013; Panaitescu et al., 1977), 0.07%–7.2% of dogs in shelters, local government custody, or veterinary hospitals (Museux et al., 2023; Abbott et al., 2020; Dias et al., 2010; Katsukawa et al., 2012), and 6.25% of cats in veterinary hospitals (Abbott et al., 2020). One prevalence study in farm pigs found many Corynebacterium species, but not C. ulcerans (Boschert et al., 2014).…”