First European report of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica isolation from a domestic cat

Francisella tularensissubsp.holarcticais a select agent causing life-threatening tularemia. It has been isolated from humans and animals, mainly lagomorphs and rodents, rarely other wild carnivore species. Increasing numbers of human tularemia cases have been reported during the last 5 years in Switzerland. Here we report the first isolation ofFrancisella tularensissubsp.holarcticafrom a domestic cat in Europe and compare its genome sequence with other Swiss isolates. The cat isolate shows a close phylogenetic relationship with a contemporary hare isolate from close geographic proximity, indicating a possible epidemiological link.