Fusobacterium
Produces poisonous H2S gas and necrotizing infections.
/Fu·so·bac·te·ri·um/ (fu?zo-bak-ter´e-um) a genus of anaerobic gram-negative bacteria found as normal flora in the
mouth and large bowel, and often in necrotic tissue, probably as secondary invaders. F. necroph´orum is found in
abscesses of the liver, lungs, and other tissues and in chronic ulcer of the colon. -- purulent or gangrenous infections.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Fusobacterium
Fusobacterium species, the most common of which is F. nucleatum, are associated with pleuropulminary infections
and disease. They are also capable of causing infection in the oral cavity (the mouth). F. nucleatum has been cited as
one of the causes of gingivitis.
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Fusobacterium necrophorum infection associated with portal vein thrombosis
Fusobacterium necrophorum is an anaerobic Gram-negative bacillus and a constituent of the normal oropharyngeal
flora. It is also the agent of necrobacillosis, an infrequent but severe necrotizing infection. This infection occurs in
both humans and animals, causing septicaemia with disseminated abscess formation.
Human necrobacillosis classically presents as Lemierre's syndrome. This is characterized by acute primary infection in
the head, most commonly the oropharynx, of a previously healthy individual with secondary thrombophlebitis of the
internal jugular vein and metastatic embolic abscesses at multiple sites.
Venous thrombosis of the internal jugular vein frequently occurs in association with an upper-respiratory-tract infection
caused by F. necrophorum (Hagelskjaer Kristensen & Prag, 2000). We report a case of portal vein thrombosis in
association with F. necrophorum septicaemia in a patient without the classical primary cephalic infective focus that
characterizes Lemierre's syndrome.
J Med Microbiol 54 (2005), 993-995;