Vibrio metschnikovii, a rare cause of wound infection.
We report the first case of a postoperative wound infection caused by Vibrio metschnikovii on the lower right leg of a patient after saphenectomy. Compared to the healing of an uninfected site, that of the right leg was delayed, and a cure was achieved by intensified wound care. Several swabs taken from the infected site grew a gram-negative rod in pure culture that was identified as V. metschnikovii by the VITEK 2 system. The source of the infection was not detected; however, the absence of putative risk factors (exposure to water or shellfish or an episode of diarrhea), the profession of the patient (butcher), and the isolation of V. metschnikovii in a variety of farm animals (chicken, cattle, swine, and horses) suggest that infections caused by V. metschnikovii may be regarded as zoonotic.
Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. hans-joerg.linde@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
Hans-Jörg
HJ
Linde
Reinhard
R
Kobuch
Sylvia
S
Jayasinghe
Udo
U
Reischl
Norbert
N
Lehn
Stefan
S
Kaulfuss
Lothar
L
Beutin
D000818:Animals; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D014709:Vero Cells; D014733:Vibrio / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000382:microbiology*