Proposal of a new serovar and altered nomenclature for Haemophilus paragallinarum in the Kume hemagglutinin scheme.

By using the Kume hemagglutinin serotyping scheme, 13 Australian isolates of Haemophilus paragallinarum were shown to constitute a new serovar within the presently termed serogroup II. Because of the likelihood that new serovars will continue to be established, we propose a rationalization of the nomenclature of the Kume scheme. Under this altered scheme, the three recognized serogroups I, II, and III are renamed A, C, and B, respectively. Within each of the serogroups, the serovars are numbered sequentially, allowing new serovars to be added in numerical order. Thus, the nine currently recognized Kume serovars are termed A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, B-1, C-1, C-2, C-3, and C-4.