Klebsiella Capsule Typing

When Klebsiella pneumoniae is isolated from equine genital swabs, it is important that the
capsule type is determined as only capsule types 1, 2 and 5 are contagious venereal
pathogens. Other capsule types are not a concern and can be disregarded. It is a common
faecal organism and therefore not a surprising isolate when untyped.

When the bacterium is cultured then we would advise both antimicrobial sensitivity testing
as well as capsule typing to determine the relevance.
A problem is sometimes encountered when Klebsiella pneumoniae is detected by qPCR and
subsequent culture is unsuccessful due to few organisms present. In these cases it cannot be
determined whether or not the strain is relevant and repeat swabbing is required.

See also
CEM testing