Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae

This article is about the disease called "erysipelas" in livestock and wild animals. For the disease called "erysipelas" in humans, see erysipelas.

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Cellular and colonial morphology of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Bacillota
Class: Erysipelotrichia
Order: Erysipelotrichales
Family: Erysipelotrichaceae
Genus: Erysipelothrix
Species:
E. rhusiopathiae
Binomial name
Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Migula, 1900

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a Gram-positive, catalase-negative, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, nonacid-fast, nonmotile bacterium. Distributed worldwide, E. rhusiopathiae is primarily considered an animal pathogen, causing the disease known as erysipelas that may affect a wide range of animals. Pigs, turkeys and laying hens are most commonly affected, but cases have been reported in other mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles.[1] In pigs, the disease is known as diamond skin disease. The bacterium can also cause zoonotic infections in humans, called erysipeloid. The human disease called erysipelas is not caused by E. rhusiopathiae, but by various members of the genus Streptococcus.

  1. ^ C. Josephine Brooke; Thomas V. Riley (1999). "Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae: bacteriology, epidemiology and clinical manifestations of an occupational pathogen". Journal of Medical Microbiology. 48 (9): 789–799. doi:10.1099/00222615-48-9-789. PMID 10482289.