The isolation of Neisseria zoodegmatis from a 63-year-old female presenting to the emergency department following a cat bite injury to her right hand is described in this report. N. zoodegmatis , also known as Centers for Disease Control (CDC) group EF-4b, is considered to be a zoonotic pathogen, and is usually associated with dog or cat bites. Despite the potential of this organism to cause serious soft tissue infections, it can be overlooked in routine clinical laboratories due to its slow growth characteristics and when the history of animal bite is not provided to the laboratory. This case highlights the importance of appropriate clinical history provision to the microbiology laboratory to help provide important information about potential pathogens and allow microbiologists to optimize culture and identification methods. The introduction of tools such as matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) into clinical laboratories allows identification and the interpretation of results to be performed within a few minutes of isolation on proper culture media, as opposed to traditional methods, whose slowness may be problematic, as shown in this case report.

In Australia, the overuse or inappropriate prescribing of antimicrobials in health (human and animal) and agriculture is a concern that has increased over the years. This has given bacteria, fungi, parasites, and some viruses through exposure more opportunity to develop resistance. A process of artificial and natural selection, which favors microorganisms in developing the strongest natural defenses increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Appropriate use of antimicrobials can be lifesaving to humans and animals, but inappropriate use needs to be closely monitored and acted on to promote improved safety and quality of care. Inappropriate use includes prescribing antimicrobials when they are not necessary, prescribing the wrong type of antimicrobial and prescribing them for the incorrect duration. This short report reviews and summarizes some of the efforts used in Australia to control AMR and antibiotic prescribing.

Kosakonia cowanii is a Gram-negative bacillus belonging to the order Enterobacterales. K. cowanii is a plant pathogen; we report the isolation of this organism from a gardening puncture injury from a plant. Pus examined from the site of infection showed the infecting organism as K. cowanii by MALDI-TOF MS Biotyper Sirius One and 16S rRNA analysis. The organism failed to be identified biochemically by the Vitek 2 XL identification system as Kosakonia spp. The Gram-negative bacilli on the system were biochemically identified as Pantoea spp. Difficulties in species identification biochemically suggest that K. cowanii might potentially represent an underestimated opportunistic human pathogen in skin infections associated with plant injuries. The MALDI-TOF MS Biotyper Sirius One software was found to be a fast and reliable identification of the organism. The isolate was found to be susceptible to first-generation cephalosporins, both cefalexin and cefazolin, by disc diffusion and Vitek 2 XL, even though antibiotic breakpoints currently do not exist using European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing or Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines for this organism.