DISPATCHES Figure 3. Phylogenetic tree showing the 16S rRNA relationships of our Clostridium hathewayi isolate (GenBank accession no. AY552788) wth various Clostridium species and other medically important bacteria. The tree was constructed by Clustal W analy- sis (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, WI), based on the entire 16S rRNA gene. The sequences were obtained from the GenBank database with their nucleotide sequence accession numbers in brackets. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was used as the outgroup to root the tree. Our C. hathewayi isolate and the published C. hathewayi strain (GenBank accession no. AJ311620) are boxed and delineat- ed with an arrow. report highlights the importance of C. hathewayi as a potential human pathogen. Dr. Elsayed is an associate medical microbiologist at Calgary Laboratory Services and an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary. His research interests include the devel- opment of molecular assays to detect and characterize microor- ganisms and fungal and mycobacterial infections. Dr. Zhang is an assistant professor of pathology and labora- tory medicine, microbiology and infectious diseases, and medi- cine at the University of Calgary and a medical laboratory scientist at the Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance, Calgary Health Region/Calgary Laboratory Services/University of Calgary. His research interests include the molecular mechanisms and detection of antimicrobial-resistant organisms. References 1. Allen SD, Emery CL, Lyerly DM. Clostridium. In: Murray PR, Baron EJ, Jorgensen JH, Pfaller MA, Yolken RH, editors. Manual of clini- cal microbiology. 8th ed. Washington: ASM Press; 2003. p. 835–56. 2. Jousimies-Somer HR, Summanen P, Citron DM, Baron EJ, Wexler HM, Finegold SM. Wadsworth-KTL anaerobic bacteriology manual. 6th ed. Belmont (CA): Star Publishing Company; 2002. 3. Steer T, Collins MD, Gibson GR, Hippe H, Lawson PA. Clostridium hathewayi sp. nov., from human faeces. Sys Appl Microbiol. 2001;24:353–7. 4. Wilson KH, Blitchington RB. Human colonic biota studied by ribo- somal DNA sequence analysis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1996;62:2273–8. 5. Levison ME, Bush LM. Peritonitis and other intra-abdominal infec- tions. In Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, editors. Principles and practice of infectious diseases. 5th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2000. p. 821–56. Address for correspondence: Sameer Elsayed, Division of Microbiology, Calgary Laboratory Services, 9, 3535 Research Rd. NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2L 2K8; fax: 403-770-3347; email: sameer.elsayed@ cls.ab.ca All material published in Emerging Infectious Diseases is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without special per- mission; proper citation, however, is appreciated. Search past issues of EID at www.cdc.gov/eid 1952 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 10, No. 11, November 2004