Characterization of a Brucella sp. strain as a marine-mammal type despite isolation from a patient with spinal osteomyelitis in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT: Naturally acquired infection of humans with a marine mammal-associated Brucella sp. has only been reported once previously in a study describing infections of two patients from Peru. We report the isolation and characterization of a strain of Brucella from a New Zealand patient that appears most closely related to strains previously identified from marine mammals. The isolate was preliminarily identified as Brucella suis using conventional bacteriological tests in our laboratory. However, the results profile was not an exact match, and the isolate was forwarded to four international reference laboratories for further identification. The reference laboratories identified the isolate as either B. suis or B. melitensis by traditional bacteriological methods in three laboratories and by a mole

SUBMITTER: McDonald WL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1698438 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature