Fusobacterium necrophorum is an anaerobic gram-negative bacterium that can present as a painful sore throat. Although uncommon, clinicians need to be aware of this condition as this can present a diagnostic challenge, with the initial symptoms being non-specific followed by a fulminant course. We present the case of a previously healthy girl who presented with a sore throat but later developed ...

A 3.5-year-old healthy boy with 4 days of fever was referred to the emergency department for respiratory distress. The physical examination was remarkable for stupor, tachycardia, tachypnea, and dyspnea. Initial blood tests showed pancytopenia. He rapidly developed torticollis. Computerized tomography of the neck revealed a thrombus in the internal jugular vein. A presumptive diagnosis of Lemie...

Fusobacterium nucleatum is closely associated with human periodontal diseases and may also be a causative agent in other infections, such as pericarditis, septic arthritis, and abscesses of tonsils and liver. Initiation and outcome of infective diseases depend critically on the host cell signaling system altered by the microbe. Production of proteinases by infected cells is an important factor ...

lacterial surface structures play a critical role in the initiation of infectious diseases. Various surface ^ components of pathogenic bacteria have been reported to be involved in host injury. There is a great deal of evidence incriminating certain Gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria present in the gingival crevice as etiologic agents of human periodontal diseases. We have isolated endotoxic cel...

Footrot is an infectious bacterial disease of sheep that causes lameness. The causal agent is Dichelobacter nodosus. There is debate regarding the role of Fusobacterium necrophorum in disease initiation. This research used an observational longitudinal study of footrot, together with quantitative PCR (qPCR) of bacterial load of D. nodosus and F. necrophorum, to elucidate the roles of each speci...

The activity of antimicrobial agents against Fusobacterium species has been reported as variable in the literature. For some strains, the inconsistency arises from difficulty in determining the endpoint of growth in agar dilution susceptibility tests. Certain strains persist as a subtle haze beyond the levels of antibiotic that permit conventional colonial growth. We have determined by light an...