Elizabethkingia miricola infection in Chinese spiny frog (Quasipaa spinosa)

<p>Abstract Elizabethkingia miricola is a Gram-negative rod which has been incriminated in severe infections in humans. Recently, a serious infectious disease was identified in Chinese spiny frogs (Quasipaa spinosa), in the Sichuan Province of China; the disease was characterized by corneal opacity, the presence of ascites and neurological symptoms. A Gram-negative bacillus was isolated from the liver, spleen and kidney of the diseased frogs. Experimental infection test revealed that the bacillus could infect the frogs Q.&nbsp;spinosa and the LD50 value was 1.19&nbsp;×&nbsp;106&nbsp;cfu per frog. The isolated Gram-negative bacillus was identified as E.&nbsp;miricola according to phenotypic characteristics, 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequence analysis. The isolated strain was only susceptible to florfenicol among all investigated chemotherapeutic agents. Histological examination revealed that E.&nbsp;miricola infection caused pathological lesions to multiple organs and tissues, especially in the liver, brain, kidney. These results confirmed that E.&nbsp;miricola is an emerging pathogen of Chinese spiny frogs.</p>