Lactococcus garvieae infections in humans: possible association with aquaculture outbreaks

Abstract

Lactococcus garvieae is an important pathogen in aquaculture, outbreaks of which significantly affect production. It is a rare pathogen with a low virulence in human infection. The relation between the aquaculture outbreak and the human infection has not been clarified. Prospective and retrospective epidemiologic surveillance of the four patients with L. garvieae infection between 2000 and 2003 and their relations to the aquaculture outbreaks of L. garvieae were conducted. All the four patients with L. garvieae infection were associated with gastrointestinal disorders. Three of the four patients gave a history of consuming raw fish and in three of the four patients, the infection occurred in summer between June and August while there is a decrease of fisheries production and an increase in L. garvieae infection in aquaculture farms. There was a 100% identity of 16S rDNA sequence of L. garvieae isolates from patient 1 and from the squid muscle obtained from the restaurant where patient 1 consumed the raw fish. Sporadic occurrence of L. garvieae infection in human appears to correlate with the seasonal aquaculture outbreaks of L. garvieae infection. The presence of gastro-intestinal disorder may facilitate L. garvieae infection.

Lactococcus chungangensis sp. nov., a lactic acid bacterium isolated from activated sludge foam

“…However, rare cases of invasive disease in humans, sometimes severe, have been reported in association with L. garvieae (Vinh et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2007; Yiu et al, 2007) and L. lactis (Mannion & Rothburn, 1990) infections. The case study by Wang et al (2007) raised awareness of a potential risk factor for gastrointestinal disease from L. garvieae linked to the consumption of raw seafood (squid) in the summer months, although their 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis may not have been the best method of establishing an epidemiological link. The exact source of infection in squid and the farm of its origin could not be identified, and a much larger study is needed to confirm risk factors for potential gastrointestinal infection with L. garvieae.…”

“…Members of the genus have been isolated largely from food-related sources and are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) organisms (Salminen et al, 1998). However, rare cases of invasive disease in humans, sometimes severe, have been reported in association with L. garvieae (Vinh et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2007; Yiu et al, 2007) and L. lactis (Mannion & Rothburn, 1990) infections. The case study by Wang et al (2007) raised awareness of a potential risk factor for gastrointestinal disease from L. garvieae linked to the consumption of raw seafood (squid) in the summer months, although their 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis may not have been the best method of establishing an epidemiological link.…”

Meningitis caused by Lactococcus garvieae

“…6 Since an increasing number of human infections due to L. garvieae have been reported in recent times, this organism has gained recognition as an emerging zoonotic pathogen. [2][3][4][5][6] One probable reason for its increasing reports might be availability of advanced bacterial identification techniques. A total of 21 cases of L. garvieae with clinical details have been reported in the literature 7 ; most of which were suffering from endocarditis.…”

“…[1][2][3] Most of the patients in the reported cases of human infections had a positive history of contact with raw fish. Another common factor, which was seen to be present in some patients of L. garvieae infection was valvular damage.…”

THE EFFECT OF SEVERAL ANTIBIOTICS ON <i>LACTOCOCCUS GARVIEAE</i> ISOLATED FROM JORDANIAN DAIRY PRODUCTS

“…garvieae was first isolated from cases of bovine mastitis (Collins et al 1983), thereafter, from clinical samples of human blood, urine and skin (Vinh et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2007) and different kinds of food products such as fermented milk (El-Baradei et al, 2008) cheeses (Alegria et al, 2009;El-Baradei et al, 2007) and meat products (Aquilanti et al, 2007). Although, the pathogenic mechanisms of L. garvieae are poorly understood, this study investigated its sensitivity to different types of antibiotics.…”