J Vet Sci.  2009 Sep;10(3):269-271. 10.4142/jvs.2009.10.3.269.

An outbreak of fatal hemorrhagic pneumonia caused by Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus in shelter dogs

• Byun JW
• Yoon SS
• Woo GH
• Jung BY
• Joo YS

• KMID: 1726929
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2009.10.3.269

Abstract

An outbreak of fatal hemorrhagic pneumonia with 70~90% morbidity and 50% mortality occurred in an animal shelter in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Clinically, the affected dogs showed severe respiratory distress within 48 h after arriving in the shelter. The dead were found mainly with nasal bleeding and hematemesis. At necropsy, hemothorax and hemorrhagic pneumonia along with severe pulmonary consolidation was observed, though histopathological analysis showed mainly hemorrhagic bronchopneumonia. Lymphoid depletion was inconsistently seen in the spleen, tonsil and bronchial lymph node. Gram-positive colonies were shown in blood vessels or parenchyma of cerebrum, lung, liver, spleen, and kidney. Also, Streptococcus (S.) equi subsp. zooepidemicus was isolated from the various organs in which the bacterium was microscopically and histologically detected. In addition, approximately 0.9 Kb specific amplicon, antiphagocytic factor H binding protein, was amplified in the bacterial isolates. In this study, we reported an outbreak of canine hemorrhagic bronchopneumonia caused by S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus in an animal shelter in Yangju, Korea.

Keyword

animal shelter; canine; hematemesis; hemorrhagic pneumonia; Streptococcus zooepidemicus

MeSH Terms

Animals
Disease Outbreaks/*veterinary
Dog Diseases/*epidemiology/*microbiology/pathology
Dogs
Korea/epidemiology
Pneumonia, Bacterial/epidemiology/microbiology/pathology/*veterinary
Streptococcus equi/isolation & purification/*physiology

Figure

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  Fig. 1 (A) Lung. There is severe alveolar congestion, with a mixture of edema fluids, inflammatory cells and erythrocytes infiltrating the alveolar cavity and bronchiole. H&E stain. Scale bar = 200 µm. (B) Lung. Gram-positive cocci are scattered in alveolar lumen and also engulfed by alveolar macrophages (arrows). Gram stain. Scale bar = 20 µm. (C) Liver. Bacterial clumps are infiltrated in the sinusoid. Gram stain. Scale bar = 50 µm. (D) Cerebrum. Lots of cocci are mixed with red blood cells and monocytes in a meningeal blood vessel. Gram stain. Scale bars = 50 µm.

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  Fig. 2 Amplified products of Streptococcus zooepidemicus isolated from the lungs of dogs with hemorrhagic pneumonia. Lane M: DNA size marker (100 bp ladder), Lane 1-3: Amplified products for sodA, seeH and seeI, respectively. Lane A: DNA fragment using primer for FUS and FDS located upstream and downstream of se18.9 from the isolated bacteria. Lane N: Negative control.

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