Isolation of Fusobacterium necrophorum from cancrum oris (noma)

A study of the predominant microflora in active sites of noma (cancrum oris ) lesions was carried out in eight noma patients 3-15 years of age in Sokot o State in northwestern Nigeria. Paper point sampling and conventional anae robic microbiologic techniques were used. Fusobacterium necrophorum was rec overed from 87.5% of the noma lesions. Oral microorganisms included Prevote lla intermedia, alpha-hemolytic streptococci, and Actinomyces spp. which we re isolated from 75.0%, 50.0%, and 37.5% of the patients, respectively. Pep tostreptococcus micros, Veillonella parvula, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pse udomonas spp. were each recovered from one lesion. The F. necrophorum and P . intermedia isolates were tested for antibiotic sensitivity to clindamycin , tetracycline, metronidazole, and penicillin using the E-test, and all str ains were observed to be sensitive to all of the antibiotics tested with th e exception of one strain of P. intermedia, which showed resistance to peni cillin. The first reported isolation from human noma lesions of F. necropho rum, a pathogen primarily associated with animal diseases, may have importa nt etiologic and animal transmission implications.