Fatal Infection in a Wild Sandbar Shark (), Caused by , Type Ia-ST7.

is one of the most important fish pathogenic bacteria as it is responsible for epizootic mortalities in both wild and farmed species. is also known as a zoonotic agent. In July 2018, a stranded wild sandbar shark (), one of the most common shark species in the Mediterranean Sea, was found moribund on the seashore next to Netanya, Israel, and died a few hours later. A post-mortem examination, histopathology, classical bacteriology and advanced molecular techniques revealed a bacterial infection caused by , type Ia-ST7. Available sequences publicly accessible databases and phylogenetic analysis suggest that the isolated in this case is closely related to fish and human isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of a fatal streptococcosis in sandbar sharks.