Human Listeriosis Caused by Listeria ivanovii

Christelle Guillet (1, 2) , Olivier Join-Lambert (1, 2) , Alban Le Monnier (3) , Alexandre Leclercq (3) , Frédéric Mechaï (1, 2) , Marie-France Mamzer-Bruneel (1, 2) , Magdalena K. Bielecka (4) , Mariela Scortti (4, 5) , Olivier Disson (3, 6) , Patrick Berche (1, 2) , José Vazquez-Boland (4, 7) , Olivier Lortholary (1, 2) , Marc Lecuit (1, 2, 3, 6)

1 UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5
2 CHU Necker - Enfants Malades [AP-HP]
3 IP - Institut Pasteur [Paris]
4 University of Edinburgh
5 UCM - Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid [Madrid]
6 INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
7 Universidad de León [León]

Two species of Listeria are pathogenic; L. monocytogenes infects humans and animals, and L. ivanovii has been considered to infect ruminants only. We report L. ivanovii–associated gastroenteritis and bacteremia in a man. This isolate was indistinguishable from prototypic ruminant strains. L. ivanovii is thus an enteric opportunistic human pathogen. The genus Listeria contains 2 pathogenic species, L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii (1). They both invade host cells, replicate in the cytosol after phagosomal escape, and spread from cell to cell by polymerizing actin. These mechanisms correlate with the presence in each species of genetic determinants called the inlAB internalization locus, the LIPI-1 intracellular survival pathogenicity island, and the hpt intracellular growth locus (2). However, each species appears to infect different hosts: L. monocytogenes infects humans and ruminants, whereas L. ivanovii is thought to infect ruminants only (2). L. ivanovii have been previously isolated, although rarely, from infected humans, indicating pathogenic potential for humans (Table). We report a case of L. ivanovii infection in a man with a kidney transplant. The ecology of L. ivanovii suggests that the rarity of human listeriosis due to this species reflects not only host tropism factors but also the rare occurrence of this species in the environment, compared with L. monocytogenes.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Emerging diseases; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Christelle Guillet, Olivier Join-Lambert, Alban Le Monnier, Alexandre Leclercq, Frédéric Mechaï, et al.. Human Listeriosis Caused by Listeria ivanovii. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2010, 16 (1), pp.136-138. ⟨10.3201/eid1601.091155⟩. ⟨pasteur-02930888⟩