| Species/Subspecies: | Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica | ||||||||
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| Categories: | Zoonotic; notifiable diseases and bacteria | ||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: named after the American bacteriologist Edward Francis, who has studied tularemia. Species epithet: refers to Tulare county in California, where the disease was first described in rodents in year 1912. Subspecies epithet: may be found in all arctic regions. | ||||||||
| Significance: | Is predominantly found in Asia and Europe, but occasionally also in North America. This subspecies is less virulent than subsp. tularensis. [Very important] |
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| Taxonomy: | Class Gammaproteobacteria Order Thiotrichales Family Francisellaceae Genus Francisella |
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| Type Strain: | GIEM 503. | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | |||||||||
| Micromorphology: | Coccoid or short nonmotile rods. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G- | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Strict aerobic | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | +/- | ||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Tryptophanase - (= indole -), ureas -. | ||||||||
| Spec. Char.: | Facultatively intracellular. May penetrate intact skin. | ||||||||
| Special Media: | |||||||||
| Vector: | Mosquitoes and ticks | ||||||||
| Disease: |
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| Virulence Factors: | The capsule can be a virulence factor. | ||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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Nine species have been described within genus Francisella and this genus is related to Coxiella spp. and Legionella spp. | ||||||||
| Legislation: | Tularemia is notifiable in Sweden. Francisella tularensis belongs to category A as a potential bioterrorism agent according to NIAID. | ||||||||
| Comment: | Common in Sweden. The subspecies holarctica is less virulent than the subspecies tularensis. | ||||||||
| Reference(s): | No. 25 | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-29 |