Phenotypical characters and ribotyping of Pasteurella aerogenes from different sources.

On the occasion of five Danish human Pasteurella aerogenes from pig bite lesions, a comparison was made between 6 isolates from man and 15 animal isolates, mainly from pigs. The strains originated from 6 different countries (USA, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium and Denmark). The 21 isolates were characterized by conventional biochemical tests, antibiogram and the API 20 NE kit; finally ribotyping was carried out by hybridizing EcoRI-digested chromosomal DNA with a probe derived from E. coli ribosomal RNA. By ribotyping, 19 of the 21 strains clustered at a similarity level of 81% or more; both phenotypical tests and ribotyping indicated that the remaining two strains did not belong to the species P. aerogenes. In conclusion, despite minor differences our P. aerogenes isolates constituted a well-defined group and they could not be subdivided on basis of animal or geographical origin.