NCIt definition : A species of facultatively anaerobic, Gram positive, rod shaped bacterium assigned
to the phylum Firmicutes. This species is nonsporulating, not acid fast, decolorizes
rapidly so may appear Gram negative, alpha-hemolytic and catalase and oxidase negative.
E. rhusiopathiae is found in a variety of host animals including fish and swine as
well as in feces and sewage. It is pathogenic in a variety of organisms including
domestic swine and humans, causing both cutaneous and septicemic infections and the
disease swine erysipelas.;
Alternative definition : CDISC: Any bacterial organism that can be assigned to the species Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae.;