Peritonitis, pericarditis and meningitis due to salmonella enterica in a Kermani ewe Summary : CASE HISTIRY : A Kermani ewe was examined because of inappetance and illthrifness. CLINICAL PRESENTATION : Clinical examination showed normal heart rate , tachy pnea, muffled heart sounds , stiff neck , dullness , dehydration , rumen atony and paled mucosal membrane . DIAGNOSITIC TESTING : Post mortem examination revealed pericarditis, peritonitis, intestinal adhesion, mesenteric thickness as well as meningeal thicknesses. Salmonella enterica was isolated in bacterial culture from affected tissues . ASSESSMENTS : Although there are some previous reports regarding the association between salmonella infection and peritonitis, pericarditis and meningitis in domestic animals, to the best of our knowledge, there is no previous report about the concurrent peritonitis, pericarditis and meningitis due to salmonella in ruminant . Key words : Peritonitis , Pericarditis , Meningitis , Salmonella , Sheep . . . . . .

Introduction: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is a leading cause of extraintestinal infection and heavy economic losses. Imparting immunity after vaccination with live attenuated strain vaccination is an ideal strategy for infection control. This study considers an FtsK knockout mutant strain as a candidate. Material and Methods: An FtsK knockout mutant of APEC strain E058 was constructed and the pathogenicity of the mutant and wild-type strains was further evaluated in chickens. Results: The 50% lethal doses of each strain for one-day-old specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens challenged experimentally via trachea were 10⁵.⁵ and 10⁷.⁰ colony-forming units (CFU) respectively. Chickens challenged with the wild-type strain exhibited typical signs and lesions of avian colibacillosis, while those inoculated with the mutant strain showed mild pericarditis and pulmonary congestion. The growth rate of the FtsK mutant strain was much slower than the wild-type strain in the heart, spleen, liver, and lung of infected chickens. Conclusion: These results indicated that the APEC FtsK mutant can be attenuated for chickens, and that this mutant has the potential for the development of an APEC vaccine.

Histophilus somni, a causative agent of the bovine respiratory disease complex, can also cause a variety of systemic disorders, including bronchopneumonia, myocarditis, pericarditis, arthritis, pleuritis, and infectious thrombotic meningoencephalitis. The purpose of this study was to determine if currently circulating strains differ from those of the 1980s by identifying genomic changes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion and deletion (INDEL) sites were examined by whole-genome sequencing in 12 samples, 6 old and 6 new. The 31 028 SNP/INDELs recorded were compared against the reference genome sequence of the pathogenic H. somni strain 2336. The distribution of about 75% of these SNPs within a specified gene differed between old and new isolates and did not follow any particular pattern. The other 25% clustered into 2 groups containing the same SNPs in various genes: group I included 5 old isolates and 1 new isolate; group II included 5 new isolates and 1 old isolate. For putative virulence genes there were more SNPs in group I compared with strain 2336, itself an older isolate, than in group II. Although only 25% of all the SNPs formed 2 clusters, the results suggest some genetic difference in various genes between old and new strains.

Chickens in a low-stress environment (heterophil/lymphocyte ratio 0.31) were given feed containing 30, 40, or 60 mg of corticosterone/kg of feed for 0.5 hour. Between 0.5 to 12 hours later, chickens were exposed to Escherichia coli via the air sac route. For each dose of corticosterone, there was an untreated control group that was exposed to E coli via the air sac route. The prevalence of pericarditis was reduced from 78 to 7% between 2 and 4 hours after exposure. Resistance was associated with heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratios greater than 1.04. Peak H/L ratios correlated positively with amount of corticosterone in the feed. In one experiment, chickens were inoculated IV with sheep erythrocytes at various times after consumption of feed containing corticosterone. Suppression of antibody responsiveness was most pronounced 4 hours later. Antibody responsiveness correlated positively with lymphocyte numbers. Histologic examination of air sacs was made following euthanasia at various times after E coli exposure. Lesions observed in control chickens included: edema at 0.5 hour, beginning of heterophil infiltration at 1 hour, increased edema and heterophil infiltration at 2 hours, and severe edema and heterophil infiltration at 4 hours. Lesions were not observed in chickens that had been given feed containing 40 mg of corticosterone/kg of feed.

Mycoplasma hyorhinis (MHR) causes polyserositis and lameness in grower pigs. While herd-specific vaccines for this bacterium are being marketed, there are currently no licensed, commercially available vaccines for MHR. The objective of this study was to develop a challenge model in cesarean-derived, colostrum-deprived (CDCD) pigs using cell-associated MHR that results in both severe pericarditis and lameness, in order to evaluate suitable vaccine candidates. We investigated administering MHR to 7-week-old pigs over 3 d using 3 different routes compared to administering MHR on a single day using 1 of 3 routes. Pigs were monitored for 21 d for signs of lameness and well-being. At the end of the study, pigs were examined for evidence of polyserositis and arthritis associated with Mycoplasma. Results indicate that clinical manifestation of disease depended more on the route of administration than on the total dose given. A single intravenous (IV) administration of MHR resulted in extensive polyserositis, while a single intranasal (IN) administration showed little to no signs of disease. A single intraperitoneal (IP) administration did not induce the same level of polyserositis as observed in the IV group, but did result in an increased incidence of lameness. Furthermore, pigs administered MHR by IP (Day 0), IV (Day 1), and IN (Day 2) on 3 consecutive days showed a more robust disease manifestation, which resulted in both polyserositis and lameness. Optimization of this group showed that elimination of the 3rd-day IN challenge had no detrimental effect on clinical outcomes. The consecutive day administration of cell-associated MHR will allow polyserositis and lameness to be simultaneously evaluated in future vaccine trials.

This study established a disease model and protocol for bacterial challenge with Escherichia coli serogroup O2 strain EC317 in Japanese quail. Five groups of 10 birds each were injected subcutaneously in the breast with 200 μL of a brain–heart infusion (BHI) culture containing 1 × 10(8), 1 × 10(7), 1 × 10(6), 1 × 10(5), or 1 × 10(4) colony-forming units/mL of the test organism, which had been isolated from a turkey with cellulitis and septicemia. Birds in a 6th group were controls that received sterile BHI alone. Localized lesions of cellulitis developed in all of the birds that received E. coli. The morbidity and mortality rates were highest (100%) in the birds receiving the highest dose of E. coli and decreased linearly with decreasing dose (P < 0.05). Severity of disease, including lesions of pericarditis and perihepatitis, was also directly proportional to the dose of E. coli. These findings indicate that this disease challenge protocol can be used to study disease resistance and immunologic consequences of contaminant exposure or other stressors in birds.

An adult one-year-old male Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) died of a traumatic injury to its right leg from a fall. At necropsy, fibrinopurulent exudates were observed in the thoracic cavity. Histopathologic examination showed that the pericardium, thoracic wall, pulmonary pleura and the lungs were markedly thickened due to mixtures of necrotic cellular debris, neutrophils, fibrin, red blood cells, and bacterial aggregates. Pure culture of Klebsiella (K.) pneumoniae was isolated from the thoracic exudates, pleura and heart tissues. Based on these findings, this is the first report describing pleuritis and pericarditis associated to K. pneumoniae in a beaver.