Listeria monocytogenes septicemia in a Thoroughbred foal.
Abstract: Listeria monocytogenes septicemia was diagnosed in a 6-day-old Thoroughbred foal. Primary clinical signs included fever, depression, diarrhea, and respiratory distress. Hematologic abnormalities included leukopenia, neutropenia, degenerative left shift, and hyperfibrinogenemia. Clinical chemistry and blood gas abnormalities included metabolic acidosis, hypoxemia, hypocapnia, hypoglycemia, and hyponatremia. Despite aggressive therapeutic intervention and intensive care, the foal died within 12 hours of admission. A postmortem examination was performed, and the primary gross lesion was bilaterally severe, focally extensive bronchopneumonia. Histopathology revealed severe subacute multifocal suppurative bronchopneumonia with necrotizing vasculitis and intralesional coccobacilli. Cultures of blood collected at admission and immediately prior to death were positive for L. monocytogenes, as were cultures obtained from lung and liver at necropsy. Immunohistochemical examination of formalin-fixed tissues revealed abundant intra- and extracellular L. monocytogenes antigen within the lung and intravascularly in multiple organs.
Publication Date: 2000-03-24 PubMed ID: 10730952DOI: 10.1177/104063870001200216Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research article reports a case of Listeria monocytogenes septicemia diagnosed in a young Thoroughbred foal leading to severe health issues like bronchopneumonia and eventual death despite intensive care and treatment efforts.
Case Presentation
- The Thoroughbred foal, only six days old, displayed symptoms such as fever, depression, diarrhea, and respiratory distress.
- Blood tests showed leukopenia (a decrease in white blood cells), neutropenia (a decrease in neutrophils, a type of white blood cell), degenerative left shift (a serious sign of systemic disease), and hyperfibrinogenemia (an increase in fibrinogen in the blood).
- Other blood parameters pointed towards metabolic acidosis (an excessive amount of acid in the blood), hypoxemia (low oxygen levels in the blood), hypocapnia (reduced carbon dioxide in the blood), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels), and hyponatremia (low sodium levels).
Treatment and Outcome
- Despite comprehensive care including aggressive therapeutic attempts to stabilize the foal’s health, the foal died within 12 hours of admission.
- A postmortem examination was conducted, which revealed the principal lesion to be severe bronchopneumonia present in both lungs.
Pathological Findings
- Further histopathology reports of the foal indicated severe bronchopneumonia. Borgpneumonia is an infectious disease of the lungs marked by widespread inflammation.
- The histopathology also showed evidence of necrotizing vasculitis, a severe form of inflammation of the blood vessels causing cell death.
- Additionally, intralesional coccobacilli were found, which are short rod-like bacterial organisms.
Microbiological Results
- The presence of septicemia, a life-threatening infection spreading through the bloodstream, was confirmed as blood cultures both collected at admission and just before death were positive for Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous bacterium.
- In addition, cultures from the lung and liver taken at the time of necropsy (the post-mortem examination) were also positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
- Immunohistochemical examination of preserved tissues showed a high presence of Listeria monocytogenes antigen within the lung and in the blood vessels of multiple organs, confirming the widespread bacterial infection.
Cite This Article
APA
Wilkins PA, Marsh PS, Acland H, Del Piero F.
(2000).
Listeria monocytogenes septicemia in a Thoroughbred foal.
J Vet Diagn Invest, 12(2), 173-176.
https://doi.org/10.1177/104063870001200216 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Kennett Square 19348, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Animals, Newborn
- Fatal Outcome
- Female
- Horse Diseases / microbiology
- Horses
- Listeria monocytogenes / isolation & purification
- Listeriosis / pathology
- Listeriosis / veterinary
- Sepsis / etiology
- Sepsis / microbiology
- Sepsis / veterinary
Citations
This article has been cited 4 times.- Phelps S, Chong D, McKenzie E, Kiupel M, Gorman E. Rapport de cas Mononuclear pleocytosis and meningoencephalitis caused by Listeria monocytogenes in an adult horse. Can Vet J 2023 Apr;64(4):363-366.
- Revold T, Abayneh T, Brun-Hansen H, Kleppe SL, Ropstad EO, Hellings RA, Sørum H. Listeria monocytogenes associated kerato-conjunctivitis in four horses in Norway. Acta Vet Scand 2015 Nov 9;57:76.
- Headley SA, Bodnar L, Fritzen JT, Bronkhorst DE, Alfieri AF, Okano W, Alfieri AA. Histopathological and molecular characterization of encephalitic listeriosis in small ruminants from northern Paraná, Brazil. Braz J Microbiol 2013;44(3):889-96.
- Kabir A, Lamichhane B, Habib T, Adams A, El-Sheikh Ali H, Slovis NM, Troedsson MHT, Helmy YA. Antimicrobial Resistance in Equines: A Growing Threat to Horse Health and Beyond-A Comprehensive Review. Antibiotics (Basel) 2024 Jul 29;13(8).
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