Ausschuss für Hygiene

Host species:

• all laboratory animals, other mammals (Tyzzer, 1917; Fries, 1977)
• one case of human infection (Smith et al. 1996)

Properties.

• spores are highly resistent to formaline
• relatively sensitive to heat and certain chemical disinfectants (Itoh et al. 1987)

Susceptibility:

• depending on genetic factors of the host (Hansen et al. 1990; Waggie et al. 1981)
• antigenetic differences among isolates of bacteria (Biovin et al. 1993; Franklin et al. 1994)

Organotropism:

• liver
• heart

Clinical disease and pathology:

• Anorexia and diarrhea of different severity
• hypertrophy and inflammation of the ileum
• focal necrosis in the liver and/or heart possible (Fries, 1977)
• mesenteric lymphadenopathy
• brain lesions in experimentally infected Mystromys albicaudatus (Waggie et al. 1986)

Morbidity and mortality:

• inapparent infection, high mortality possible (breeding colonies)
• susceptibility to infection seems to depend on genetic factors of the host (Hansen et al.1990; Waggie et al. 1981)
• isolates of different origin show heterogenicity and host specificity (Franklin et al. 1994)
• different strains of Cl. piliforme are likely to exist (Biovin et al. 1993)

Interference with research:

Infectiology

• lower susceptibility to experimental arthritis caused by Y. enterocolitica (Gripenberg et al. 1993)

Notice:

• Clostridium piliforme is a obligate intracellular parasite forming spores. It does not growing on cell-free media. Cultivation in cell lines and embryonated eggs is possible (Spencer et al.1990, Riley at al.1990)
• Diagnosis with IFA (Fries, 1977), ELISA and Western blot (Motzel et al. 1991), PCR (Duncan et al.. 1993; Goto et Itoh, 1994)

References:

Boivin, G. P., R. R. Hook, and L. K. Riley. 1993. Antigenetic diversity in flagellar epitops among Bacillus piliformis isolates. J Med Microbiology 38:177-182.

Duncan, A. J., R. J. Carman, G. J. Olsen, and K. H. Wilson. 1993. Assignment of the agent of Tyzzer's disease to Clostridium piliforme comb. nov. on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Int. J. Syst: Bacteriol. 43:314-318.

Franklin, C. L., S.L. Motzel, C. L. Besch-Williford, R. R. Hook Jr., and L.K. Riley. 1994. Tyzzer's infection: Host specifity of Clostridium piliforme isolates. Lab. Anim Sci. 44:568-572.

Fries, A. S. 1977. Studies on Tyzzer's disease: Application of Immunofluorescence for Detection of Bacillus piliformis and for Demonstration of Antibodies to it in Sera from Mice and Rabbits. Lab. Anim. 11:69-74.

Goto, K., and T. Itoh. 1994. Detection of Bacillus piliformis by specific amplification of ribosomal sequences. Exp Anim. 43:389-394.

Gripenberg-Lerche, C., and P. Toivanen. 1993. Yersinia associated arthritis in SHR rats: effect of the microbial status of the host. Ann Rheum Dis 52:223-228.

Hansen. A. K., O. Svendson, and K. E. Mollegard-Hansen. 1990. Epidemiological studies of Bacillus piliformis infection and Tyzzer's disease in laboratory rats. Z Versuchtierk 33:163-169.

Itoh, T., M. Ebukuro, and N. Kagiyama. 1987. Inactivation of Bacillus piliformis spores by heat and certain chemical disinfectants. Jikken Dobutsu 36:239-244.

Motzel, S. L., J. K. Meyer, L. K. Riley. 1991. Detection of Serum Antibodies to Bacillus piliformis in Mice and Rats Using an Enzyme-Linked-Immuonosorbent-Assay. Lab Amin Sci 41:26-30.

Riley, L. K., C. Besch-Williford, and K.S. Waggie. 1990. Protein and antigenetic heterogenicity among isolates of Bacillus piliformis. Infect. Immun. 58:1010-1016.

Smith, K., H. G. Skelton, E. J. Hilyard, T. Hadfield, R. S. Moeller, S. Tuur, C. Decker, K. F. Wagner, and P. Angritt. 1996. Bacillus piliformis infection (Tyzzer's disease) in a patient infected with HIV-1: confirmation with 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 34:343-348.

Spencer, T. H., J. R. Ganaway, and K. S. Waggie. 1990. Cultivation of Bacillus piliformis (Tyzzer) in mouse fibroblasts (3T3 cells): Vet. Microbiol. 22:291-297.

Tyzzer, E. E. 1917. A Fatal Disease of the Japanese Waltzing Mouse Caused by a Spore-bearing Bacillus (Bacillus piliformis). J Med Res 37:307-338.

Waggie, K. S., C. T. Hansen, J. R. Ganaway, and T. S. Spencer. 1981. A Study of Mouse Strain Susceptibility to Bacillus piliformis (Tyzzer's disease). The Association of B-Cell Function and Resistence. Lab Anim Sci 31:139-142.

Waggie, K. S., L. P. Thornburg, and J. E. Wagner. 1986. Experimentally induced Tyzzer's disease in the African white-tailed rat (Mystromys albicaudatus). Lab. Anim. Sci. 36:492-495.