The first case of Francisella novicida infection in Taiwan: bacteraemic pneumonia in a haemodialysis adult

ABSTRACT

Tularaemia is a zoonotic disease caused by Francisella tularensis (F. tularensis). Human infection is rare and can be life-threatening. F. tularensis subsp. novicida used to be a subspecies of F. tularensis, is now considered a different species, F. novicida. Though less virulent, F. novicida can cause morbidity and mortality among debilitated or immunocompromised patients. We reported that an adult with end-stage renal disease undergoing haemodialysis and a history of melioidotic aortic aneurysm developed F. novicida bacteraemic pneumonia, which was uneventfully treated by antimicrobial therapy. The microbiological confirmation of F. novicida infection relies on 16S rRNA sequencing. It is the first case of F. novicida infection in Taiwan.

KEYWORDS:

• Francisella novicida
• bacteraemia
• pneumonia
• 16S ribosomal RNA
• Taiwan

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Diagnostic Microbiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, for providing the technical service of 16s rRNA PCR and gene sequencing for the bacteria isolate.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).