Prevalence of Bordetella bronchiseptica in cats attended by a veterinary practice in the Manawatu region

dAims:To determine the prevalence by isolation of Bordetella bronchiseptica infection in healthy cats and in cats showing signs of upper respiratory tract (URT) disease attended by a veterinary practice in the Manawatu region.

dMethods: The nasal cavity and oropharynx of 100 cats of mixed sex and age were swabbed and the swabs cultured for B. bronchiseptica. The population of cats surveyed was that attended by the Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, and included healthy cats, cats with clinical signs of URT disease, cats with a recent history of URT disease, cats from single cat households, cats from multiple-cat households, and cats from a colony.

dResults: Bordetella bronchiseptica was recovered from 7 cats (5 from pharyngeal samples and 2 from nasal samples). Five of the 7 cats appeared to be healthy at the time of sampling, whilst 2 showed clinical signs of URT disease. Six of the 7 culture-positive cats were from a cat colony.The prevalence of B. bronchiseptica in healthy cats sampled was 7% and in cats with URT disease was 8%.

dConclusion: This study confirms that B. bronchiseptica infection is present, but the prevalence of infection is low, in both healthy cats and in cats with URT disease attended by the Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. It is unlikely that B. bronchiseptica infection is a frequent cause of feline URT disease of cats in this region.     

Bordetella bronchiseptica experimental model development in pigs and efficacy evaluation of a single intramuscular injection of gamithromycin (Zactran® for Swine) against Bordetella bronchiseptica-associated respiratory disease in experimentally infected piglets

In the Bordetella bronchiseptica infection model development study, twenty-eight piglets were inoculated with B. bronchiseptica strain of either canine (10⁹ CFU/ml) or swine (10⁸ and 10⁹ CFU/ml) origin; swine origin strain at 10⁹ CFU/ml was chosen for the efficacy assessment study due to higher incidence and severity of gross and histopathological lesions compared with other strains. To assess efficacy of gamithromycin against B. bronchiseptica, forty piglets were experimentally inoculated on Day 0 and clinical signs were scored as per severity. Animals were then treated either with gamithromycin or saline on Day 3. The Global Clinical Scores in gamithromycin-treated group were consistently lower than the saline-treated control group from Day 4 onwards and were 0 and 40 in the gamithromycin-treated and saline-treated control groups, respectively, on Day 6. Severity and frequency of gross and histopathological observations were significantly lower in gamithromycin-treated animals compared with saline-treated controls. The efficacy of Zactran® for Swine at the label dose for the treatment of B. bronchiseptica–associated respiratory disease was demonstrated based on the faster reduction in clinical signs as early as 1 day post-gamithromycin treatment and based on the significant difference in the severity of macroscopic and microscopic lung lesions 10 days post-gamithromycin treatment.     

Serum C-reactive protein and immune responses in dogs inoculated withBordetella bronchiseptica (phase I cells)

Eight Beagle dogs were inoculated intrabronchially with 5×10⁹ live, avirulent cells ofBordetella bronchiseptica L-414 strain (phase I cells) (B. bronchiseptica) to investigate the serum levels of their C-reactive protein, the white blood cell counts, the antibody responses toB. bronchiseptica in the sera and tracheal secretions, and the effects of prednisolone given to four of the dogs on C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cells (WBC) and immune responses. In two Beagle dogs inoculated intrabronchially with sterile physiological saline, the concentrations of CRP and the WBC counts did not increase. CRP was markedly increased one day after inoculation in the dogs inoculated withB. bronchiseptica to 385.0–720.0 µg/ml (mean 498±132 µg/ml) in the group given theB. bronchiseptica inoculation only, and to 372.0–649.0 µg/ml (mean 551±106 µg/ml) in the group treated with prednisolone following inoculation ofB. bronchiseptica, as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The CRP levels were 23–95 times the pre-inoculation values, which indicated that prednisolone had no effect on the production of CRP. In the prednisolone-treated group, the WBC count increased and stayed at an increased level for approximately 12 days. An indirect fluorescent antibody test led to the detection of anti-B. bronchiseptica IgM and IgG antibodies in the sera from 5 days afterB. bronchiseptica inoculation and S-IgA and IgG anti-B. bronchiseptica antibodies in the tracheal secretions on the day after the challenge exposure toB. bronchiseptica. The increase in CRP after challenge exposure toB. bronchiseptica was significantly (p<0.05) smaller than that found after the first inoculation ofB. bronchiseptica.Abbreviations CRP C-reactive protein - ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - FHA filamentous haemagglutinin - IFA indirect fluorescent antibody - WBC white blood cell(s)     

Pneumonia of pigs: a review

Pneumonia of pigs is one of the more important disease factors limiting pig production. Of the varieties of pneumonia affecting this species enzootic pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma spp. is the most common and most important. The major effects of this disease are lowered food conversion ratio and poor weight gain. Deaths are usually the result of secondary infection by necrotising, pus-forming bacteria. Eradication of the disease is expensive and requires depopulation and restocking. Control and treatment by antimicrobial agents is most effective if the drug combination used takes regard of the bacteria complicating the disease on any particular property. Other forms of pneumonia such as those caused by Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae, Salmonella cholerae-suis and Aujeszky’s disease virus can be important on individual farms. The role of other agents such as Bordetella bronchiseptica and adenoviruses in respiratory disease of pigs remain to be clarified.     

Ventral Bulla Osteotomy for Treatment of Otitis Media in a Rabbit

This article describes the management of otitis media in a domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) that presented with a history of chronic upper respiratory disease. Deep nasal culture yielded a pure growth of Bordetella bronchiseptica susceptible to chloramphenicol. To further evaluate recurring clinical signs after treatment with chloramphenicol, skull radiographs were obtained and showed an increased density in the right tympanic bulla. A ventral bulla osteotomy was performed, and the success of treatment was determined by the resolution of respiratory signs and the absence of increased radiographic density in the right tympanic bulla 5 months postoperatively.     

Canine pedal dermatitis due to percutaneous Uncinaria stenocephala infection

Related to its potential vulnerability the respiratory tract has a very complex and effective defence apparatus. The interaction between these defence mechanisms and certain characteristics of aetiological agents results in a pattern in which initial infections by these agents tend to occur at specific sites in the tract.

Infections in which the primary portal of entry is in the upper respiratory tract include Bordetella bronchiseptica and Haemophilus spp in pigs; Pasteurella spp in cattle, sheep, pigs; Mycoplasma spp in cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry; equine herpesvirus 1 in horses; infectious bovine rhinotracheitis in cattle; parainfluenza 3 in cattle and sheep; infectious laryngo-tracheitis and infectious bronchitis in poultry; feline viral rhinotracheitis and calicivirus in cats; Aujeszky' disease virus and swine influenza in pigs; and equine influenza in horses. Infections in which the primary portal of entry is in the lower respiratory tract include Aspergillrrs fumigatus in poultry and mammals, respiratory syncytial virus in cattle, distemper virus in dogs and adenovirus in cattle and dogs. A fuller understanding of the interactions between an agent and the host at the point of entry would make it much easier to develop effective vaccines and therapeutic agents.     

Chronic carriage of multidrug resistant Salmonella typhimurium in a cat

Gastroenteritis caused by a multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhimurium was diagnosed in a 12-week-old kitten. Although the kitten recovered from the acute episode after seven days, it continued to shed salmonella in its faeces for a further 12 weeks. Carriage was finally cleared by administering a 14-day course of treatment with parenteral enrofloxacin. The public health implications of an infection and subsequent carriage in a cat of a salmonella strain known to cause illness in humans is discussed.     

A study of air quality and respiratory infections in pigs raised in confinement

Air quality, respiratory disease, and growth rate were followed in four different farrowing and nursery systems. Ammonia levels varied with ambient air temperature, but were within normally accepted levels (25 ppm). These levels of ammonia did not appear to affect the health or performance of the pigs raised in these units. Hydrogen sulfide levels were consistently low. Counts of bacterial colony forming particles (BCFP) varied and the organisms identified were predominantly micrococci. Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated from nasal cavities of pigs from 3 out of 4 farms. Three of the farms did not have evidence of atrophic rhinitis; pigs farrowed in the last quarter of the test year on one farm from which B. bronchiseptica was isolated developed lesions of atrophic rhinitis. The B. bronchiseptica isolates from the 3 farms were virulent for gnotobiotic piglets. Groups of pigs for slaughter inspection from one farm had lungs with 11–28% pneumonic lesions; these lesions were not typical of mycoplasmal pneumonia.     

Fatal Chlamydia psittaci infection in a domestic kitten

Chlamydia psittaci has not been reported to cause disease in domestic cats, to our knowledge. In contrast, C. felis infection is common in domestic cats and typically results in conjunctivitis, upper respiratory tract infection, and less frequently pneumonia. Herein, we report the pathologic findings and diagnostic features of a fatal case of psittacosis in a 7-wk-old domestic kitten. The animal was 1 of a litter of 5 that, together with the queen, were yielded to a pet rescue center in Wyoming. Over a period of ~3 wk, the kittens and queen became sick, thin, and icteric prior to death, despite antimicrobial treatments. Postmortem evaluation of a kitten revealed necrosuppurative hepatitis with Gimenez stain–positive intracellular bacteria, nonsuppurative pneumonia, and mild leptomeningitis. The diagnosis of psittacosis was made by 16S rRNA PCR using multiple primer sets and sequencing from liver. Psittacosis should be considered a differential diagnosis in domestic cats with intracellular bacterial hepatitis and interstitial pneumonia.     

Pyothorax associated with a Mycoplasma species in a kitten

A 12-week-old kitten with congenital mitral valve dysplasia was shown by ante mortem and post mortem examination to have pneumonia and purulent pleurisy. A Mycoplasma species was isolated from a sample of pleural fluid collected at necropsy. Mycoplasmosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pyothorax in cats.     

Congenital bicuspid stenosis with left ventricular hypoplasia in a kitten

Summary

Congenital bicuspid stenosis with left ventricular hypoplasia was diagnosed in a kitten. Clinical weakness, dyspnoea and marked cardiomegaly (X rays) were related to postmortem findings. The cardiomegaly had resulted from an enlargement of the left auricular appendage. It is supposed the cardiomegaly developed after the closing of the foramen ovale.     

Experimental Atrophic Rhinitis in Gnotobiotic Pigs

Twenty-nine caesarian derived colostrum deprived germfree pigs were reared in isolators in groups of three to four per isolator. At seven days of age each group was inoculated intranasally with one of four strains of Bordetella bronchiseptica (designated B, J, L and 55B), or Pseudomonas aeruginosa or a mucoid strain of Escherichia coli, all previously isolated from nasal mucus of pigs affected with clinical atrophic rhinitis. Another group was inoculated simultaneously with B. bronchiseptica B and Pasteurella multocida. The animals were observed for clinical signs of atrophic rhinitis and monitored bacteriologically at weekly intervals for seven weeks. Then they were bled for serology and killed and their respiratory organs examined for gross and histopathological lesions.

All of the pigs inoculated with the Bordetellae had inflammation of the nasal mucosa and developed positive serum antibody titers against all four of the Bordetella strains used in this study. Strain J caused sneezing and turbinate atrophy in three of four pigs. One of the three pigs inoculated with strain L died in ten days from bronchopneumonia and pericarditis and had turbinate atrophy. Strains B and B55 caused no turbinate atrophy, but two out of three pigs inoculated with both B. bronchiseptica B and P. multocida had turbinate atrophy. No nasal lesions were observed in the pigs inoculated with E. coli or P. aeruginosa or in the noninoculated germfree controls.

The results indicate a variation in the ability of different strains of B. bronchiseptica to cause turbinate atrophy in pigs and demonstrate that nasal infections by these organisms stimulate serum antibody response. Presence of P. multocida appears to increase the severity of the lesions. As the E. coli and Pseudomonas failed to produce atrophic rhinitis, they are probably of no significance as primary etiological agents in the atrophic rhinitis syndrome in swine.

     

Bordetella bronchiseptica-reactive antibodies in Canadian polar bears

Bordetella bronchiseptica is a promiscuous bacterium that infects a variety of species but has not been reported in free-ranging polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Sera from 385 polar bears from the western Hudson Bay region, 1986 to 2017, were tested for reactivity to B. bronchiseptica with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using anti-canine IgG and Streptococcus protein G as secondary reagents. Sera from bears had variable reactivity to B. bronchiseptica antigens, and there was no difference among bears that had a history of coming near the town of Churchill, Manitoba, and bears that did not. Although the sources of exposure were not determined, equivalent results in both groups suggest that potential exposure to humans (aside from handling during sampling) and their animals (dogs) was not an important co-factor in sero-positivity to B. bronchiseptica.     

OBSERVATIONS ON DISEASES OF FREE-LIVING AND CAPTIVE KOALAS (PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS)

SUMMARY During 1975–1978, pathological examination of 15 free-living and 11 captive koalas from Queensland revealed the following conditions: Bordetella bronchiseptica-associated pneumonia (6 cases), Pseudomonas aeruginosa-associated pneumonia (1), idiopathic chronic interstitial pneumonia (1), severe alveolar emphysema (3), ulcerative stomatitis (1), intestinal blockage (3), urinogenital lesions (3), Ixodes holocyclus paralysis (1), chlamydial keratoconjunctivitis (2), neoplasia (3), trauma/shock (2).     

Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a Birman kitten

Extract

A 6-month-old female Birman kitten was presented for long-lasting and repeated seizures. It initially had some response to treatment but deteriorated and was euthanised. At necropsy, the brain was swollen and some of the caudal cerebellum was compressed into the foramen magnum. The right cerebral hemisphere was enlarged and had a round, dark, 5 mm-diameter focus on the dorsal surface of the rostral sigmoid gyrus of the frontal cerebrum. There were smaller dark areas extending caudally into the endomarginal gyrus. When the fixed brain was sliced transversely, the lesions were grey-coloured or translucent and involved most of the rostral half of the right cerebral hemisphere. Histologically, there was severe, extensive pyogranulomatous inflammation with some interspersed areas of spongiosus and oedema. Within the granulomas were variable numbers of branching, pigmented, thin-walled, septate fungal hyphae. Cladosporium bantianum (trichoides) was isolated from the brain. This is the most frequent agent reported from cases of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis.     

Purification of equine neutrophil lysozyme and its antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria

Lysozyme from equine neutrophil granulocytes was isolated in a pure form by fast performance liquid chromatography, i.e. ion-exchange chromatography and reversed-phase chromatography. The lysozyme lysed Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus lentus and was also bactericidal against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Serratia marcescens. Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis were not lysed. The lysozyme was only very slightly bactericidal for S. epidermidis and S. aureus. Equine neutrophil lysozyme was found to be bactericidal for Gram-positive as well as for Gram-negative bacteria without further treatment. Equine and chicken egg white lysozymes were found to be immunologically related when examined using specific antisera against each of them. Both lysozymes also had very similar specific enzymatic activities against M. luteus membranes.     

An outbreak of canine tracheobronchitis (kennel cough) in Zaria

The clinical and epidemiological features of the first recorded outbreak of canine tracheobronchititis (kennel cough) in Zaria are described. During the outbreak which occurred between October and December 1980, 21 per cent of dogs presented to the Small Animal Clinic were diagnosed clinically as suffering from kennel cough, compared with 0.2 per cent in the preceding year. Bordetella bronchiseptica was among the several microorganisms isolated from affected dogs.     

Atypical pneumonia associated with a Mycoplasma isolate in a kitten

An atypical case of Mycoplasma pneumonia with an unusual radiographic and computed tomographic pattern was diagnosed in a Siamese kitten. The cat showed no response to broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy including enrofloxacin. The administration of doxycycline led to a dramatic clinical and radiographic improvement.     

Hydronephrosis and hydro–ureter in a kitten – a case report

An 8–week–old kitten presented with a distended abdomen, dribbling of urine and vulval prolapse, was found to have a unilateral hydronephrosis and hydro–ureter. Following nephrectomy the kitten made an uneventful recovery.