Trap. Anita. Hlth Prod. (1991)23, 155-156
Research Note BORDETELLA BRONCHISEPTICA FROM ABORTED EQUINE FOETUS K. MOHAN and M. J. OBWOLO Department of Paraclinical Veterinary Studies, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Harare, Zimbabwe
We report a case of five week preterm abortion in a thoroughbred mare from a stud near Harare. The mare had received killed vaccine (Pneumobort-K: Fort Dodge Laboratory Inc., Iowa, U.S.A.) of equine herpes virus I (EHVI) at the fifth, seventh and ninth month of pregnancy. Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated in pure culture from foetal stomach content, liver and lungs. However cultures from the placenta were contaminated. No other bacteria of pathological significance was isolated nor were rickettsial or chlamydial cells seen in Giemsa stained smears of foetal organs and placenta. Over 40 tests were performed for detailed characterisation of the isolate which proved typical of B. bronchiseptica. An aberrant character recorded was the strain's resistance to cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (Cetrimide, Sigma). Brain-heart infusion agar with 0-5% w/v cetrimide was employed to screen for resistance following the method described by Edwards and Ewing (1972). The isolate was lethal to two groups of four mice when infected intraperitoneaUy (i/p) or subcutaneously (s/c) with third passage of 18 hours old broth culture adjusted to contain 1 x 109 and 5 x 109 viable cells respectively; the i/p dose was approximately 500 times the LD5o found by Sekiya, Kawahira and Nakase (1983). Mice receiving i/p injection died the following day but the group injected s/c did not die until between 48 and 96 hours post-inoculation. Discernible lesions were petechial haemorrhages on heart, spleen and liver, with exudation in pleural cavity and marginally atrophied spleen. B. bronchiseptica was reisolated in pure culture from heart blood and spleen. Neither the foetus nor its organs had gross or microscopic lesions except oedema of the lungs and severe oedema of the placenta which was confirmed histologically. Absence of pathognomonic lesions, inclusion bodies in hepatic cells, bronchial epithelia and vaccination of the dam, lead us to rule out possibility of EHVI infection, a common cause of equine abortion (Matuszewska and Komorowski, 1983; Tewari, Sharma and Prasad, 1987). Equine bordetellosis, resulting in pneumonia, sinusitis, guttural pouch lesions and a case of infertility in a mare, has been reported by several workers (Gallagher, 1965; Miller, 1965; Saxegaard, Tiege and Fjellheim, 1971; Monteverde, Monteverde and Chialvo, 1972; Mather, Bruce, Owens, Bierschwal and Martin, 1973; Koehne, Herren, Gibson and Northington, 1981; Noren, 1985). There is no published report of the isolation of B. bronchiseptica from cases of equine abortion or foetus of any animal species. The presence of the bacteria in foetal organs confirms the in utero infection which apparently culminated in abortion. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Dr B. Holmes, NCTC, Colindale for confirmation of our identification. Accepted for publication August 1990
155
156
MOHAN
AND OBWOLO
REFERENCES EDWARDS, P. R. & EWlNG, W. H. (1972). Identification of Entembaeteriaeeae. Burgess Publishing Company, Minnesota. p 343. GALLAOHER,G. L. (1965). Veterinary Record, 77, 632-633. KOEHNE, G. W., HERREN, C. E., GIBSON,R. B. & NORTHU~OTON,W. A. (1981). Veterinary Medicine and Small Animal Clinician, 76, 507-508. MATgER, E. C., BRUCE, A., OwENs, D., BmRSCrlWAL,C. J. & MARTIN, C. E. (1973). Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association, 163, 76-77. MATUSZEWSKA,M. & KOMOROWSKLZ. (1983). Medycyna Waterynaryjna, 39, 479-500. MILLER, WM, C. (1965). Veterinary Record, 77, 658-659. MOrCrEVERDE, J. A., MoterEVERDE, H. J. & CHIALVO,E. J. (1972). Revista de Medicina Veterinaria, 53, 73-78. NOREN, A. (1985), Svensk Veterinaertidning, 37, 333-337. SAXEGAARD,F., TIEOE, J. Jr. & FJELLHEIM,P. (1971). Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 12, 114-115. SEKIYA,K., KAWAmRA,M. & NA~ASE,Y. (1983). Infection and Immunity, 41, 598-603. TEWARI,S. C., SHARMA,P. C. & PRASAD,S. (1987). Indian Journal of Animal Science, 57, 623-627.
Some Accepted Titles Awaiting Publication Indigenous and crossbred cattle--a comparison of resistance to ticks and implications for their strategic control in Zimbabwe. Effects of work on reproductive and productive performance of crossbred dairy cows in the Ethiopian highlands. Copper status of Najdi sheep in eastern Saudi Arabia under penned and grazing conditions.
Isolation of drug-resistant strains of Trypanosoma congolense from the lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia. Anaplasmosis in Uganda: I. Use of dried blood on filter papers and serum samples for serodiagnosis--a comparative study. Leptospira interrogans serovar canicola: a causal agent of sow abortions in Arequipa, Peru.
Research Note BORDETELLA BRONCHISEPTICA FROM ABORTED EQUINE FOETUS K. MOHAN and M. J. OBWOLO Department of Paraclinical Veterinary Studies, University of Zimbabwe, PO Box MP 167, Harare, Zimbabwe
We report a case of five week preterm abortion in a thoroughbred mare from a stud near Harare. The mare had received killed vaccine (Pneumobort-K: Fort Dodge Laboratory Inc., Iowa, U.S.A.) of equine herpes virus I (EHVI) at the fifth, seventh and ninth month of pregnancy. Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated in pure culture from foetal stomach content, liver and lungs. However cultures from the placenta were contaminated. No other bacteria of pathological significance was isolated nor were rickettsial or chlamydial cells seen in Giemsa stained smears of foetal organs and placenta. Over 40 tests were performed for detailed characterisation of the isolate which proved typical of B. bronchiseptica. An aberrant character recorded was the strain's resistance to cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (Cetrimide, Sigma). Brain-heart infusion agar with 0-5% w/v cetrimide was employed to screen for resistance following the method described by Edwards and Ewing (1972). The isolate was lethal to two groups of four mice when infected intraperitoneaUy (i/p) or subcutaneously (s/c) with third passage of 18 hours old broth culture adjusted to contain 1 x 109 and 5 x 109 viable cells respectively; the i/p dose was approximately 500 times the LD5o found by Sekiya, Kawahira and Nakase (1983). Mice receiving i/p injection died the following day but the group injected s/c did not die until between 48 and 96 hours post-inoculation. Discernible lesions were petechial haemorrhages on heart, spleen and liver, with exudation in pleural cavity and marginally atrophied spleen. B. bronchiseptica was reisolated in pure culture from heart blood and spleen. Neither the foetus nor its organs had gross or microscopic lesions except oedema of the lungs and severe oedema of the placenta which was confirmed histologically. Absence of pathognomonic lesions, inclusion bodies in hepatic cells, bronchial epithelia and vaccination of the dam, lead us to rule out possibility of EHVI infection, a common cause of equine abortion (Matuszewska and Komorowski, 1983; Tewari, Sharma and Prasad, 1987). Equine bordetellosis, resulting in pneumonia, sinusitis, guttural pouch lesions and a case of infertility in a mare, has been reported by several workers (Gallagher, 1965; Miller, 1965; Saxegaard, Tiege and Fjellheim, 1971; Monteverde, Monteverde and Chialvo, 1972; Mather, Bruce, Owens, Bierschwal and Martin, 1973; Koehne, Herren, Gibson and Northington, 1981; Noren, 1985). There is no published report of the isolation of B. bronchiseptica from cases of equine abortion or foetus of any animal species. The presence of the bacteria in foetal organs confirms the in utero infection which apparently culminated in abortion. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Dr B. Holmes, NCTC, Colindale for confirmation of our identification. Accepted for publication August 1990
155
156
MOHAN
AND OBWOLO
REFERENCES EDWARDS, P. R. & EWlNG, W. H. (1972). Identification of Entembaeteriaeeae. Burgess Publishing Company, Minnesota. p 343. GALLAOHER,G. L. (1965). Veterinary Record, 77, 632-633. KOEHNE, G. W., HERREN, C. E., GIBSON,R. B. & NORTHU~OTON,W. A. (1981). Veterinary Medicine and Small Animal Clinician, 76, 507-508. MATgER, E. C., BRUCE, A., OwENs, D., BmRSCrlWAL,C. J. & MARTIN, C. E. (1973). Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association, 163, 76-77. MATUSZEWSKA,M. & KOMOROWSKLZ. (1983). Medycyna Waterynaryjna, 39, 479-500. MILLER, WM, C. (1965). Veterinary Record, 77, 658-659. MOrCrEVERDE, J. A., MoterEVERDE, H. J. & CHIALVO,E. J. (1972). Revista de Medicina Veterinaria, 53, 73-78. NOREN, A. (1985), Svensk Veterinaertidning, 37, 333-337. SAXEGAARD,F., TIEOE, J. Jr. & FJELLHEIM,P. (1971). Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 12, 114-115. SEKIYA,K., KAWAmRA,M. & NA~ASE,Y. (1983). Infection and Immunity, 41, 598-603. TEWARI,S. C., SHARMA,P. C. & PRASAD,S. (1987). Indian Journal of Animal Science, 57, 623-627.
Some Accepted Titles Awaiting Publication Indigenous and crossbred cattle--a comparison of resistance to ticks and implications for their strategic control in Zimbabwe. Effects of work on reproductive and productive performance of crossbred dairy cows in the Ethiopian highlands. Copper status of Najdi sheep in eastern Saudi Arabia under penned and grazing conditions.
Isolation of drug-resistant strains of Trypanosoma congolense from the lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia. Anaplasmosis in Uganda: I. Use of dried blood on filter papers and serum samples for serodiagnosis--a comparative study. Leptospira interrogans serovar canicola: a causal agent of sow abortions in Arequipa, Peru.
