title: Isolation of the highly pathogenic and zoonotic agent Burkholderia pseudomallei from a pet green Iguana in Prague, Czech Republic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Melioidosis caused by Burkholderia (B.) pseudomallei is an endemic zoonotic disease mainly reported from northern Australia and Southeast Asia. In Europe, cases of human melioidosis have been reported only from patients travelling to endemic regions. Besides humans, B. pseudomallei has a very broad host range in domestic and wild animals. There are some reports about importation of B. pseudomallei-infected animals from endemic areas into Europe. The present report describes the first case of B. pseudomallei infection of a pet iguana in Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a 5-year-old pet Iguana iguana living in a private household in Prague, Czech Republic, B. pseudomallei was isolated from pus of an abscess. The isolate VB976100 was identified by Vitek®2, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and polymerase chain reaction as B. pseudomallei. The molecular typing resulted in multi-locus sequence type 436 hitherto, which has been found only once worldwide in a B. pseudomallei strain isolated in the USA and originating from Guatemala. The identification as internal transcribed spacer type G indicates a close relatedness to strains mainly isolated in the Western Hemisphere. These findings support the hypothesis that the iguana became infected in this region or in a breeding facility through contact to other infected animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present case highlights the risk of importation of the highly pathogenic and zoonotic B. pseudomallei into non-endemic regions through animal trade. Therefore, veterinarians treating animals from these areas and physicians examining patients owning such animals should include melioidosis in differential diagnosis whenever specific symptoms appear. Furthermore, veterinary authorities responsible for supervision of traders and pet shops should be aware of this risk of zoonotic transmission.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Strasse 96a, 07743, Jena, Germany. mandy.elschner@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Mandy C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Elschner
authors.affiliation: Animal Clinic, Bílá Hora, Cistovicka 44, 16300, Prague 6, Czech Republic. jan.hnizdo@seznam.cz.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hnizdo
authors.affiliation: Vet Med Labor GmbH, Division of IDEXX Laboratories, Mörikestrasse 28/3, 71636, Ludwigsburg, Germany. ivonne-stamm@idexx.com.
authors.forename: Ivonne
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Strasse 96a, 07743, Jena, Germany. hosny.eladawy@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Hosny
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-Adawy
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Strasse 96a, 07743, Jena, Germany. katja.mertens@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mertens
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Naumburger Strasse 96a, 07743, Jena, Germany. falk.melzer@fli.bund.de.
authors.forename: Falk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018153:Czech Republic; D005260:Female; D007076:Iguanas / Q000382:microbiology*; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D057805:Pets / Q000382:microbiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000382:microbiology