Emerging Infectious Diseases (Mar 2018)

Severe Pneumonia Caused by Toxigenic Corynebacterium ulcerans Infection, Japan

  • Ikkoh Yasuda,
  • Hisayo Matsuyama,
  • Tomoko Ishifuji,
  • Yoshiro Yamashita,
  • Masahiro Takaki,
  • Konosuke Morimoto,
  • Motohiro Sekino,
  • Katsunori Yanagihara,
  • Tatsuya Fujii,
  • Masaaki Iwaki,
  • Akihiko Yamamoto,
  • Koya Ariyoshi,
  • Takeshi Tanaka

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2403.171837
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 3
pp. 588 – 591

Abstract

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Corynebacterium ulcerans infection was recently recognized as a zoonosis. We present 2 cases of severe pneumonia complicated by diffuse pseudomembrane formation on the bronchus caused by C. ulcerans–producing diphtheria toxin. Our purpose is to alert medical professionals to the virulence of Corynebacterium species other than C. diphtheriae.

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