Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horse with severe breathing trouble due to septic pleuritis
By Albert, Ervin et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2025·University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: isolated from septic pleuritis in a horse.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 17-year-old Hungarian Sport Horse mare was taken to a veterinary clinic in Hungary because she was suspected to have pleuritis, which is an infection in the lining of the lungs. When she arrived, she had a fever, a fast heartbeat, and was having a lot of trouble breathing. Tests showed that she had a significant amount of fluid in her chest and some of her lung tissue was not functioning properly. The veterinarians drained a large amount of cloudy fluid from her chest and started her on antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medication, blood thinners, and fluids. Unfortunately, despite receiving intensive care, her condition worsened, and she was euthanized six days later.
Abstract
Here we report the isolation offrom a thoracic sample from a horse. A 17-y-old Hungarian Sport Horse mare was referred to the equine clinic of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Hungary, with suspected pleuritis. Upon arrival, the horse was febrile and had tachycardia, severe inspiratory dyspnea, and tachypnea. Thoracic ultrasonography revealed severe bilateral pleural effusion, and a large area of lung consolidation. After sampling of both hemithoraces, 66 L of turbid exudate were drained. Based on these findings, a tentative diagnosis of septic pleuritis was made, and the horse was immediately started on a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics, a NSAID, an anticoagulant, and intravenous fluids. Despite intensive care, the clinical parameters deteriorated, and the horse was euthanized 6 d later. Cytology confirmed septic pleuritis, with short chains or groups of coccoid bacteria. Anaerobic culture yielded gram-positive cocci from both hemithoraces in almost pure culture, which we identified asby 16S rDNA and whole-genome analysis. Additionally, we identified 4 previously unassignedsp. sequences as. Of these, 3 were obtained from aborted equine fetuses and a fourth from a donkey mastitis case, supporting the pathogenic nature ofin these host species.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39773117/