Association of microbiologic flora with clinical, endoscopic, and pulmonary cytologic findings in foals with distal respiratory tract infection.
Abstract: Undifferentiated distal respiratory tract disease (nasal discharge, cough, pneumonia) in foals (1 to 8 months old) is a burdensome economic problem on breeding farms; yet, the infective agents associated with these episodes have not been well described. Possible causes of these episodes of illness were investigated by culturing specimens of proximal and distal airways of clinically diseased foals (n = 101), prior to any treatment, for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and viruses (rhinoviruses, equine arteritis virus, equine herpesvirus subtype 1 [EHV-1], influenza virus, and adenovirus). Pairs of sera (n = 47) were examined for antibodies to influenza A virus, equine subtypes 1 and 2, EHV-1, and adenovirus antigens, and sera obtained from foals during acute infection were examined for antibodies (by agar gel immunodiffusion [AGID]) to equi factor antigens of Rhodococcus equi. Viruses were not isolated from the proximal (swab) or distal (bronchial lavage) airway specimens in foals, and only 2 of 47 randomly selected foals seroconverted to EHV-1. Serotiters to the other viruses were low and frequently decreasing between samples, which was compatible with maternally derived antibody. Streptococcus zooepidemicus was the predominant isolate from bronchial lavage specimens (88/101 cases), accompanied by alpha-hemolytic streptococci (8 cases), Bordetella bronchiseptica (13 cases), Staphylococcus epidermidis (9 cases), and other organisms in lesser frequency. Only Str zooepidemicus was recovered significantly (P < 0.05) more often in cases than in controls. The AGID test was found useful to detect foals with presumed exposure to R equi, but positive tests results did not correspond well with bacterial culture results; positive AGID results were recorded in 34% of culture-negative foals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Publication Date: 1993-10-01 PubMed ID: 8250386
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
- Adenovirus
- Bordetella bronchiseptica
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage
- Clinical Findings
- Clinical Pathology
- Cytology
- Diagnosis
- Disease Diagnosis
- Disease Etiology
- Equine Herpesvirus
- Equine Viral Arteritis
- Foals
- Horses
- Infectious Disease
- Influenza
- Pneumonia
- Respiratory Disease
- Rhodococcus equi
- Staphylococcus
- Streptococcus
- Veterinary Medicine
Summary
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This study investigates the infectious agents causing undifferentiated distal respiratory tract disease in young horses, commonly known as foals. The research found the bacterium Streptococcus zooepidemicus to be the predominant form of bacteria found in these diseases, and also highlighted the usefulness of the Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test in identifying foals exposed to certain bacteria, despite the test not always correlating with bacterial culture results.
Objective and Methodology
- In this research, the team aimed to establish the infectious agents causing episodes of undifferentiated distal respiratory tract disease in foals aged between 1 to 8 months old. This disease often results in symptoms like nasal discharge, cough, and pneumonia.
- The researchers attempted to identify the probable causes for these episodes of illness by culturing samples from the proximal and distal airways of clinically ill foals, before any treatments had been provided.
- 101 foals were chosen for the culture exercise, which was done for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and viruses like rhinoviruses, equine arteritis virus, equine herpesvirus subtype 1 [EHV-1], influenza virus, and adenovirus.
Findings
- The research did not find any viruses in swab or bronchial lavage airway specimens in foals. EHV-1 was found in two of 47 foals with an increase in seroconversion. The other viruses showed low and decreasing serotiters, likely due to maternally derived antibodies.
- The bacterium Streptococcus zooepidemicus was the predominant organism identified, found in 88 out of 101 cases. It was accompanied by alpha-hemolytic streptococci (8 cases), Bordetella bronchiseptica (13 cases), Staphylococcus epidermidis (9 cases), and other organisms in lesser frequency.
Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) test
- The Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test proved useful in detecting foals exposed to Rhodococcus equi, a bacterium that can cause severe pneumonia in foals. However, the results from this test did not correspond well with the bacterial culture results, as 34% of foals that tested negative in the culture tested positive in the AGID test.
In conclusion, the study found Streptococcus zooepidemicus to be the predominant bacterial species causing distal respiratory tract disease in foals. Furthermore, the AGID test could be a valuable tool, despite its strayed correlation with bacterial culture results.
Cite This Article
APA
Hoffman AM, Viel L, Prescott JF, Rosendal S, Thorsen J.
(1993).
Association of microbiologic flora with clinical, endoscopic, and pulmonary cytologic findings in foals with distal respiratory tract infection.
Am J Vet Res, 54(10), 1615-1622.
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Clinical Studies, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Bacteria / isolation & purification
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / microbiology
- Endoscopy / veterinary
- Female
- Horse Diseases / microbiology
- Horses
- Lung / microbiology
- Ontario
- Respiratory Tract Infections / microbiology
- Respiratory Tract Infections / veterinary
- Streptococcus / isolation & purification
- Viruses / isolation & purification
Citations
This article has been cited 17 times.- Akter R, El-Hage CM, Sansom FM, Carrick J, Devlin JM, Legione AR. Metagenomic investigation of potential abortigenic pathogens in foetal tissues from Australian horses. BMC Genomics 2021 Oct 2;22(1):713.
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- Sitthicharoenchai P, Derscheid R, Schwartz K, Macedo N, Sahin O, Chen X, Li G, Main R, Burrough E. Cases of high mortality in cull sows and feeder pigs associated with Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus septicemia. J Vet Diagn Invest 2020 Jul;32(4):565-571.
- Kinoshita Y, Cloutier AK, Rozak DA, Khan MSR, Niwa H, Uchida-Fujii E, Katayama Y, Tuanyok A. A novel selective medium for the isolation of Burkholderia mallei from equine specimens. BMC Vet Res 2019 May 7;15(1):133.
- Vaid RK, Shanmugasundaram K, Anand T, Bera BC, Tigga M, Dedar R, Riyesh T, Bardwaj S, Virmani N, Tripathi BN, Singh R. Characterization of isolates of Bordetella bronchiseptica from horses. J Equine Sci 2018;29(1):25-31.
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