Human meningitis caused by Streptococcus suis

Streptococcus suis is an important swine pathogen worldwide, which can be transmitted to human beings by direct contact; therefore, S. suis infections occur mainly in people who handle pigs or pork. We present a case of a patient with S. suis meningitis who worked as a butcher in a meat processing plant for 5 years. The 35-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases in T. Browicz Memorial Central Infectious Disease and Observation Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland, with suspected bacterial meningitis. According to his medical history, the patient had been injured during the processing of pork. A microbiological examination of the cerebrospinal fluid and blood revealed S. suis as a single aetiological factor of this infection. The patient was empirically administered cefotaxime (2.0 g at 8-h intervals) and penicillin (9 million U at 8-h intervals). The patient made a complete recovery and his inflammatory markers normalized. Only the hearing deficit of his right ear did not disappear. An otolaryngologist recommended a 4-week steroid therapy. The patient was not examined because he did not report to the clinic. To our knowledge this is the first described case of human meningitis caused by S. suis in Poland.