Streptococcus suis infections in horses and cats
Devriese, L.A.; Haesebrouck, F.
Veterinary Record 130(17): 380
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 1604787 Document Number: 394239
S. suis infections in 3 horses and a zebra and 4 cats are described; none of the cases had direct contact with swine. S. suis was isolated in high numbers from a 5-month-old foal with septic polyarthritis, from an inapparent guttural pouch infection, from a 10-day-old foal which died with purulent pneumonia and pleuritis (Klebsiella pneumoniae also isolated) and from an adult zebra with osteomyelitis of the mandible (an Actinomyces pyogenes-like organism and a group C Streptococcus were also isolated). In cats, S. suis was isolated from 2 animals with a moist dermatitis (one with Pasteurella multocida) and at PM examination from the lungs of a 2-week-old kitten with fibronecrotic pneumonia and from the lungs of a 2-year-old cat positive for feline leukaemia virus with an adhesive necrotising pleuropneumonia (Escherichia coli was isolated from other samples in this case). It is concluded that S. suis acts as an opportunistic pathogen in several animals species and that it has pathogenic potential in the horse; its pathogenic role in cats is less certain.