Classification of human and animal strains of Fusobacterium necrophorum by their pathogenic effects in mice

Forty-six strains of Fusobacterium necrophorum, 24 from animals and 22 of human origin, were examined by pathogenicity tests in mice, while the same strains were being examined in laboratories elsewhere by other methods. The pathogenicity tests consisted of (1) subcutaneous inoculation with a large dose of a pure culture, (2) subcutaneous inoculation with a small dose of F. necrophorum mixed with a large but relatively harmless dose of Staphylococcus aureus, and (3) intravenous inoculation with a large dose of a pure culture. Fourteen strains, all of animal origin, showed the characteristic behaviour of biotype A. Twenty-eight strains, 10 of animal origin and 18 from man, were classified as biotype B. The remaining four strains, all from man, produced a distinct type of infection in mice; these strains were referred to as 'A2433-like' because of their resemblance to a strain described in an earlier study. It would appear that biotype A strains, responsible for classical necrobacillosis in animals, do not infect man; that biotype B strains occur in both man and animals; and that 'A2433-like' strains are probably confined to man.