A 59-year-old female presented with swelling and pain in an injured left hand and enlarged lymph nodes in the axial region of her left arm. Her hand was injured when she stopped on her way home from work to rescue a small kitten that had wandered into the road. When she attempted to pick up the frightened kitten, it scratched her left hand. A specimen for culture was obtained by aspiration from the wound. A Gram stain showed small, gram-negative bacilli. The culture showed no growth on blood and MacConkey agar and sparse growth on chocolate agar.

Questions

1. The isolate was oxidase negative and catalase negative. Given this information, what is the suspected causative bacterium?

2. What would be the expected results if urease and nitrate reductase tests were performed?

3. What serology tests could be performed to identify this bacterium?