FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Indian journal of microbiology2011; 51(2); 212-216; doi: 10.1007/s12088-011-0088-3

Outbreak of Abortions and Infertility in Thoroughbred Mares Associated with Waterborne Aeromonas hydrophila.

Abstract: At a thoroughbred equine breeding farm near Hissar (Haryana), three mares aborted in their seventh month of pregnancy. The vaginal swabs of all aborted mares, and stomach contents, heart blood, liver, spleen and placenta of aborted fetuses yielded pure culture of Aeromonas hydrophila. In addition, A. hydrophila was also isolated from the vaginal swabs of three repeat breeding mares and faecal sample of a diarrheic foal. The source of infection was possibly water supply as all the water samples collected from taps, mother tank and storage tank were found to be positive for A. hydrophila. The antibiogram of all the isolates was similar showing resistance to ampicillin, carbenicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin and amikacin but sensitive to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cotrimoxazole, cotrimazine, nitrofurantoin, streptomycin and tetracycline. All the 20 sera samples collected from three aborted and three repeat breeding, and eight in-contact mares, a diarrheic foal, three cows and two male buffaloes maintained at the same farm contained antibodies against A. hydrophila with titres ranging from 80 to 640. The water supply was instantly chlorinated using 0.05% sodium hypochlorite for three consecutive days and all the culturally positive mares were treated with intravaginal administration of 1 g ciprofloxacin, while the foal was given nitrofurantoin for three days. After one month, A. hydrophila could not be isolated either from mares or from their environment and antibody titre in all the seropositive animals showed a declining trend. Later, all the aborted and repeat breeding mares were confirmed to be pregnant. Thus, the present study indicated that water-borne A. hydrophila might be associated with equine abortions and infertility, and diarrhea in newborn foals.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2011-02-04 PubMed ID: 22654167PubMed Central: PMC3209884DOI: 10.1007/s12088-011-0088-3Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article centers on an outbreak of abortions and infertility in thoroughbred mares which was tied to the waterborne bacteria, Aeromonas hydrophila. The bacterium was found in aborted mares, fetuses, repeat breeding mares, and a sick foal, with the suspected source linked to the farm’s water supply.

Study Setting and Test Subjects

  • The site of the study was a thoroughbred equine breeding farm located near Hissar (Haryana).
  • Outbreak subjects included three mares that aborted in their seventh month of pregnancy, three repeat breeding mares, and a foal with diarrhoea.
  • Organ samples from aborted fetuses including stomach contents, heart blood, liver, spleen, and placenta were examined.
  • Vaginal swabs from all subjects were taken and tested for A. hydrophila, a pathogenic bacteria.

Identification of the Source of Infection

  • The studied water samples, collected from taps, the mother tank, and a storage tank, tested positive for A. hydrophila, hinting that the water supply could be the source of infection.
  • An serological analysis of the animals maintained at the farm showed that they all had antibodies to A. hydrophila, indicating exposure to the bacteria.

Response to the Outbreak

  • The water supply was immediately treated with sodium hypochlorite for three consecutive days to eliminate the bacteria.
  • Affected mares were treated intravaginally with ciprofloxacin, while the foal was given nitrofurantoin for three days.
  • Antimicrobial resistance profiles of the bacterial isolates were reported. They were resistant to ampicillin, carbenicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and amikacin; however, they showed sensitivity to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime, ceftriaxone, cotrimoxazole, cotrimazine, nitrofurantoin, streptomycin, and tetracycline.

Confirmation and Resolution of the Outbreak

  • A month after the initial treatment, A. hydrophila was not detectable either from the mares or their environment suggesting the treatment was successful.
  • Decreasing seropositive animals indicated a receding trend of the bacteria.
  • To conclude, all the aborted and repeat breeding mares were then confirmed to be pregnant, further supporting the initial speculation about the affliction’s cause.
  • The study suggests that waterborne Aeromonas hydrophila might be associated with equine abortions, infertility, and diarrhoea in newborn foals.

Cite This Article

APA
Singh BR, Gulati BR, Virmani N, Chauhan M. (2011). Outbreak of Abortions and Infertility in Thoroughbred Mares Associated with Waterborne Aeromonas hydrophila. Indian J Microbiol, 51(2), 212-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-011-0088-3

Publication

Indian journal of microbiology
ISSN: 0973-7715
NlmUniqueID: 0374703
Country: India
Language: English
Volume: 51
Issue: 2
Pages: 212-216

Researcher Affiliations

Singh, B R
    Gulati, B R
      Virmani, Nitin
        Chauhan, Mamta

          References

          This article includes 24 references
          1. Alstine WV. Equine Abortions. Spring 1999 News Letter .
          2. Singh BR. An insight into bacterial causes of infertility and abortion in equines. Proceedings of tenth annual conference of IAAVR and national symposium on challenges and strategies for sustainable animal production in mountains College of Vetinary and Animal Sciences, Palampur, 14–15 April 2003, pp 102–105.
          3. Singh BR, Singh VP, Verma JC, Anand A. An out break of equine abortion due to lecithinolytic Enterobacter agglomerans (Pantoea agglomerans). Intas Polivet 2004;5:319–322.
          4. Gray SJ. Aeromonas hydrophila in livestock: incidence, biochemical characteristics and antibiotic susceptibility.. J Hyg (Lond) 1984 Jun;92(3):365-75.
            doi: 10.1017/S0022172400064585pmc: PMC2129318pubmed: 6736644google scholar: lookup
          5. Stern NJ, Drazek ES, Joseph SW. Low incidence of Aeromonas sp. in livestock feces. J Food Prot 1987;50:66–69.
          6. Forga-Martel J, Gonzalez-Valle F, Weinzieri J. Infectious abortion associated with Aeromonas hydrophila in a mare. Equine Pract 2000;22:22–24.
          7. Lallier R, Higgins R. Biochemical and toxigenic characteristics of Aeromonas spp. isolated from diseased mammals, moribund and healthy fish.. Vet Microbiol 1988 Sep;18(1):63-71.
            doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(88)90116-2pubmed: 3188376google scholar: lookup
          8. Figueras MJ, Suarez-Franquet A, Chacón MR, Soler L, Navarro M, Alejandre C, Grasa B, Martínez-Murcia AJ, Guarro J. First record of the rare species Aeromonas culicicola from a drinking water supply.. Appl Environ Microbiol 2005 Jan;71(1):538-41.
            doi: 10.1128/AEM.71.1.538-541.2005pmc: PMC544204pubmed: 15640231google scholar: lookup
          9. Bizani D, Brandelli A. Antimicrobial susceptibility, hemolysis, and hemagglutination among Aeromonas spp. isolated from water of a bovine abattoir. Braz J Microbiol 2001;32:334–339.
            doi: 10.1590/S1517-83822001000400016google scholar: lookup
          10. Fernández MC, Giampaolo BN, Ibañez SB, Guagliardo MV, Esnaola MM, Conca L, Valdivia P, Stagnaro SM, Chiale C, Frade H. Aeromonas hydrophila and its relation with drinking water indicators of microbiological quality in Argentine.. Genetica 2000;108(1):35-40.
            doi: 10.1023/A:1004025907858pubmed: 11145418google scholar: lookup
          11. van der Kooij D. Nutritional requirements of aeromonads and their multiplication in drinking water.. Experientia 1991 May 15;47(5):444-6.
            pubmed: 2044698
          12. Kooij D, Veenendaal HR, Baars-Lorist C, Klift DA, Drost YC. Biofilm formation on surfaces of glass and Teflon exposed to treated water. Water Res 1995;29:1655–1662.
            doi: 10.1016/0043-1354(94)00333-3google scholar: lookup
          13. Holmes P, Nicolls LM. Aeromonads in drinking-water supplies: their occurrence and significance. J Chart Inst Water Environ Manage 1995;9:464–469.
            doi: 10.1111/j.1747-6593.1995.tb01484.xgoogle scholar: lookup
          14. Quinn PJ, Carter ME, Markey B, Carter GR. Clinical veterinary microbiology. Edinburgh: Mosby; 2000.
          15. Lawrence GL, Gilkerson J, Love DN, Sabine M, Whalley JM. Rapid, single-step differentiation of equid herpesviruses 1 and 4 from clinical material using the polymerase chain reaction and virus-specific primers.. J Virol Methods 1994 Apr;47(1-2):59-72.
            doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(94)90066-3pubmed: 8051234google scholar: lookup
          16. Abbott SL, Cheung WK, Janda JM. The genus Aeromonas: biochemical characteristics, atypical reactions, and phenotypic identification schemes.. J Clin Microbiol 2003 Jun;41(6):2348-57.
            doi: 10.1128/JCM.41.6.2348-2357.2003pmc: PMC156557pubmed: 12791848google scholar: lookup
          17. Singh BR, Kulshreshtha SB. Isolation of ampicillin sensitive Aeromonas from aquatic foods with XLD agar and ampicillin dextrin agar. J Food Sci Technol 1993;30:359–361.
          18. Singh BR, Verma JC. A study on factors influencing ‘O’ and ‘H’ agglutinin titres of hyper immune serum raised in rabbits against Salmonella and E. coli. Indian J Comp Microbiol Immunol Infect Dis 2003;24:49–53.
          19. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Performance standards for antimicrobial disk susceptibility tests; approved standard–Nineth edn. Document M02-A9, and M100-S18-Seventeenth Informational Supplement, Wayne, 2006.
          20. Havelaar AH, Versteegh JF, During M. The presence of Aeromonas in drinking water supplies in The Netherlands.. Zentralbl Hyg Umweltmed 1990 Sep;190(3):236-56.
            pubmed: 2261055
          21. Singh BR, Sharma VD. Potential of Klebsiella pneumoniae cytotoxin toxoid as vaccine against klebsiellosis in rabbits and mice.. Vaccine 2001 Aug 14;19(31):4505-10.
            doi: 10.1016/S0264-410X(01)00187-6pubmed: 11483277google scholar: lookup
          22. Vila J, Marco F, Soler L, Chacon M, Figueras MJ. In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility of clinical isolates of Aeromonas caviae, Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas veronii biotype sobria.. J Antimicrob Chemother 2002 Apr;49(4):701-2.
            doi: 10.1093/jac/49.4.701pubmed: 11909850google scholar: lookup
          23. Singh BR, Kapoor KN, Yadav A, Tiwari AK, Singh Y, Kumar A, Bhilegaonkar KN. Characterization of virulence factors among stains of Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from fish. J Food Sci Technol 1997;34:443–445.
          24. Merino S, Rubires X, Knochel S, Tomas JM. Emerging pathogens: Aeromonas spp.. Int J Food Microbiol 1995 Dec;28(2):157-68.
            doi: 10.1016/0168-1605(95)00054-2pubmed: 8750664google scholar: lookup

          Citations

          This article has been cited 2 times.
          1. Xiao G, Zheng X, Li J, Yang Y, Yang J, Xiao N, Liu J, Sun Z. Contribution of the EnvZ/OmpR two-component system to growth, virulence and stress tolerance of colistin-resistant Aeromonas hydrophila. Front Microbiol 2022;13:1032969.
            doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1032969pubmed: 36312957google scholar: lookup
          2. Igbinosa IH, Igbinosa EO, Okoh AI. Antibiogram characterization and putative virulence genes in Aeromonas species isolated from pig fecal samples. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2016 Jun;23(12):12199-205.
            doi: 10.1007/s11356-016-6421-ypubmed: 26971520google scholar: lookup
          Subscribe to our newsletter
          Join 100,129 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.