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- Title
Outbreak of Francisella novicida Bacteremia Among Inmates at a Louisiana Correctional Facility.
- Authors
Brett, Meghan E.; Respicio-Kingry, Laurel B.; Yendell, Stephanie; Ratard, Raoult; Hand, Julie; Balsamo, Gary; Scott-Waldron, Christine; O'Neal, Catherine; Kidwell, Donna; Yockey, Brook; Singh, Preety; Carpenter, Joseph; Hill, Vincent; Petersen, Jeannine M.; Mead, Paul
- Abstract
The first common-source outbreak of Francisella novicida infections among humans is described, along with epidemiologic and laboratory evidence identifying contaminated ice as the likely source of infection.Background. Francisella novicida is a rare cause of human illness despite its close genetic relationship to Francisella tularensis, the agent of tularemia. During April–July 2011, 3 inmates at a Louisiana correctional facility developed F. novicida bacteremia; 1 inmate died acutely.Methods. We interviewed surviving inmates; reviewed laboratory, medical, and housing records; and conducted an environmental investigation. Clinical and environmental samples were tested by culture, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and multigene sequencing. Isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).Results. Clinical isolates were identified as F. novicida based on sequence analyses of the 16S ribosomal RNA, pgm, and pdpD genes. PmeI PFGE patterns for the clinical isolates were indistinguishable. Source patients were aged 40–56 years, male, and African American, and all were immunocompromised. Two patients presented with signs of bacterial peritonitis; the third had pyomyositis of the thigh. The 3 inmates had no contact with one another; their only shared exposures were consumption of municipal water and of ice that was mass-produced at the prison in an unenclosed building. Swabs from one set of ice machines and associated ice scoops yielded evidence of F. novicida by PCR and sequencing. All other environmental specimens tested negative.Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first reported common-source outbreak of F. novicida infections in humans. Epidemiological and laboratory evidence implicate contaminated ice as the likely vehicle of transmission; liver disease may be a predisposing factor. Clinicians, laboratorians, and public health officials should be aware of the potential for misidentification of F. novicida as F. tularensis.
- Subjects
BACTEREMIA; FRANCISELLA novicida; FRANCISELLA tularensis; POLYMERASE chain reaction; PULSED-field gel electrophoresis
- Publication
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2014, Vol 59, Issue 6, p826
- ISSN
1058-4838
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/cid/ciu430