ISOLATION OF A BORDETELLA AVIUM-LIKE ORGANISM FROM A HUMAN SPECIMEN

The isolation of a strain of Bordetella for which the species could no t be determined but which most closely resembled Bordetella avium is r eported. The strain was isolated in mixed culture from an ear swab of a patient suffering from chronic otitis media. The bacterium showed th e typical biochemical reactions of Bordetella avium but differed in an timicrobial resistance pattern, protein and fatty acid composition, an d DNA-DNA and DNA-rRNA hybridization. Further studies will clarify the taxonomic status of this strain within the Bordetella-Alcaligenes rib osomal RNA cluster.