Toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae var mitis isolated from a child from north west England

A toxigenic strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae var mitis was isolated on 14 January from a throat swab from an 11 year old boy from a religious community in Salford, north west England (1). The child had developed a sore throat on 5 January, six days after returning from a one week holiday with four members of his family in Jerusalem, Israel. The throat swab was taken on 7 January