Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated from the lung and blood. Corynebacterium kutscheri is pathogenic for laboratory rats and mice. It usually occurs as a subclinical infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Disease results in abscesses in lung, preputial glands, liver and kidney from septic embolization of the bacteria. Irradiation, cortisone administration and concurrent infectious diseases can activate a subclinical infection.
Transmission is by the fecal-oral route.
In humans, Acinetobacter baumannii, a gram-negative coccobacillus, is an important cause of nosocomial bacteremia mainly in patients with suppressed immune responses. Diseases that occur include pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, peritonitis and tracheobronchitis. A. baumannii is ranked fourth as the cause of pneumonia in hospitalized patients. Acinetobacter spp. are found in soil and water and are commensals on skin and in throats of healthy people and animals. It is not a pathogen in healthy animals and in this rat it was probably a secondary infection due to the illness caused by the primary pathogen Corynebacterium kutscheri.