Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Streptococcus equi zooepidemicus strains in cats with respiratory
By Britton, Ann P et al.Ā·Published in Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, IncĀ·2018Ā·Animal Health Centre, CanadaĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Multi-locus sequence typing of Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus strains isolated from cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats in shelters in Canada and Israel developed severe respiratory and neurological problems caused by a bacteria called Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus. This strain has been linked to outbreaks in both cats and dogs, indicating that it can be dangerous for pets in close quarters, like shelters. Researchers found that the same strain was responsible for a serious outbreak in Canada, and it was also present in a healthy cat, suggesting that it can linger in the environment. The findings highlight the importance of monitoring and controlling this bacteria in shelters to protect both cats and dogs.
People also search for: cat respiratory disease shelter Ā· cat neurological problems bacteria Ā· Streptococcus zooepidemicus in cats
Abstract
Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus ( S. zooepidemicus) causes outbreaks of fatal respiratory disease in dog shelters and fatal respiratory and neurologic disease in cat shelters. We conducted multi-locus sequence typing analysis on S. zooepidemicus isolates from 5 Canadian and 3 Israeli cats with severe respiratory and neurologic disease, plus 1 isolate from a clinically normal shelter cat. Our aim was to determine if feline outbreaks are clonal and whether there is commonality between feline and canine strains. ST363 was identified as the causative strain of a Canadian outbreak of S. zooepidemicus-linked disease, and is a double-locus variant of ST173, which was isolated from one of the Israeli cats. ST363 was also isolated from the clinically normal cat, indicative of the potential for enzootic infection in shelters. Strains within the ST173 clonal complex were responsible for 2 large canine outbreaks in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the death of 1 cat in the United States outbreak. ST215 was isolated from 2 cats in the Israeli outbreak, and is unrelated to the ST173 complex. We conclude that S. zooepidemicus outbreaks in cat shelters are clonal and that strains within the ST173 clonal complex are pathogenic for both dogs and cats.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28906182/