Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with localized Francisella tularensis skin infection like
By Valentine, Beth A et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc·2004·Department of Biomedical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Localized cutaneous infection with Francisella tularensis resembling ulceroglandular tularemia in a cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 6-year-old spayed female Domestic Shorthair cat had a draining lump on her neck that was removed by a veterinarian. Testing revealed that the lump was caused by a bacteria called Francisella tularensis, which can lead to a serious infection. Unfortunately, a year later, the cat was euthanized due to heart disease and complications, but there were no signs of ongoing infection at that time. This case highlights the importance of bacterial cultures in diagnosing certain infections in pets.
People also search for: cat neck lump · Francisella tularensis in cats · cat heart disease symptoms
Abstract
A chronically draining subcutaneous mass was removed from the ventral cervical region of a 6-year-old spayed female Domestic Shorthair cat. The histopathologic diagnosis was severe locally extensive pyogranulomatous and necrotizing cellulitis. Bacterial culture yielded Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis as the causative agent. Immunohistochemical evaluation of sections for F. tularensis was negative. One year later, the cat was euthanized because of progressive lethargy found to be due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with pulmonary thromboembolism. No evidence of cutaneous or systemic infection by F. tularensis was found at necropsy. This case appears to be a localized form of tularemia resembling the ulceroglandular form of tularemia in humans and suggests that bacterial culture may be more sensitive than immunohistochemistry in detecting organisms in cases of localized F. tularensis infection.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14974853/