An outbreak of caprine meningoencephalitis due to Escherichia coli O157:H7

Abstract

Five 1-month-old kid goats from a local herd in Kozani (northwest Greece) developed neurological disorders characterized by decreased appetite, ataxia, and head pressing. The animals received a 3-day course of treatment with intramuscular administration of enrofloxacin and ketoprofen. However, no significant clinical improvement was achieved, and 2 kids died. The remaining 3 animals were euthanized, and a necropsy was performed within 1 hr. Macroscopic lesions were confined to the central nervous system, with congestion and petechiae in the meninges. Microscopic lesions in all 3 animals revealed multifocal acute meningoencephalitis characterized by infiltrations composed of mononuclear inflammatory cells, lesser numbers of lymphocytes, and occasionally neutrophils and eosinophils. Additionally, in the kidney, there was multifocal expansion of the glomerular tufts by eosinophilic amorphous material, multifocal interstitial hemorrhages, and multifocal glomerular hypercellularity. The above noted lesions are consisted with an acute ongoing nephropathy indicative of a septicemic-toxemic procedure at its primary stages. Small, gray bacterial colonies, 3-4 mm in diameter, were obtained in pure culture from the brain of all 3 necropsied animals and were confirmed as Escherichia coli O157:H7 by use of phenotypic and genotypic methods. The isolates were sensitive to cefuroxime, ceftazidime, and gentamicin. In contrast, resistance to enrofloxacin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline was displayed. Additionally the bacterial isolates were found to carry a plasmid that harbored qnrS, sulII, and tetB genes that contribute to high-level resistance to fluoroquinolones, co-trimoxazole, and tetracycline, respectively.