PHENOTYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN PASTEURELLA, AND PASTEURELLA-LIKE ISOLATES

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 243  (4) , 499-510
Abstract
Human isolates (42) that were designated Pasteurella or Pasteurella-like organisms in the bacteriological routine laboratory were phenotypically characterized considering conventional, morphological and physiological features and respiratory quinones. Of these strains, 37 fit into the large traditional species, P. multocida, the majority of them being associated with alterations of the respiratory tract and the rest with intestinal diseases or putrid wound secretions mostly following animal bite or scratch lesions. Two strains isolated from sputum or sinus maxillaris punctate, respectively, were P. ureae, and 1 strain recovered from a septicemic blood sample was Cardiobacterium hominis. A Pasteurella-like strain isolated from putrid sputum and an unusual organism that was isolated from the CSF of an infant with putrid meningitis remained unidentified. Diagnosis of Pasteurella and similar organisms and the range of phenotypical variation within the species P. multocida are discussed.