Discovery of New Infectious Bacteria Species in Blood of Hospitalized Patient
Researchers at a London hospital discovered a new type of infectious bacteria in a patient’s blood. This is the first reported case of the new species, which the researchers believe originated from sheep.
The 55-year-old patient, who works as a shepherd in Canterbury, Kent, in the United Kingdom, was initially admitted to Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital in London with a persistent fever, weight loss, and abnormal swelling in the walls of the main artery from their heart.
Standard blood tests revealed the presence of several different types of disease-causing bacteria that could be the source of the infection. However, one species could not be identified using conventional testing methods.
To identify this species X, researchers from the hospital and King’s College London collaborated to examine its DNA. Using nanopore sequencing technology, which allows scientists to quickly read single sequences of DNA, the team was able to analyze the entire genome and confirm that the bacteria was a previously unknown species.
The team published their findings in the journal Clinical Infection in Practice, revealing that the new bacterial species was a Variovorax—a type of bacteria that primarily lives in soils. The patient named the new species Variovorax durovernesis, which comes from the Latin name for Canterbury, where the shepherd lives in the United Kingdom.
But how did this soil-dwelling microbe get into the patient in the first place?
Nanopore Technology Unveils Unusual Bacterial Infection
“Further investigation suggested the patient became infected during the lambing season or while feeding the sheep anti-parasite medications (a process called ‘drenching’), which was all done without gloves,” Lara Payne, specialist registrar at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, said in the paper.
The researchers wrote: “This case highlights the importance of an open mind interpreting results from clinical samples as more atypical infections from the environmental microbiome may be isolated.”
The researchers concluded that this study demonstrates the utility of nanopore technologies in the rapid identification of new and unusual species in clinical settings.
“Once we know the cause of infection, we can change the antibiotics accordingly—meaning patients get personalized and targeted treatment,” Adela Alcolea-Medina, joint first author and a researcher at King’s College London and next generation sequencing lead at Synnovis, said in a statement.
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