Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis in an adult horse with enteric Salmonellosis

I C. Johns
Sophy Jesty, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
F M. James

Abstract

A case of enteric salmonellosis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteraemia in an adult horse is reported. A 7-year-old mare in Pennsylvania, USA, was presented for signs of acute abdominal pain [date not given]. Exploratory laparotomy allowed surgical correction of right dorsal displacement of the large colon with a 180 volvulus at the caecocolic ligament. Postoperatively, the mare developed fevers, leukopenia and diarrhoea. Salmonella newport was cultured from the faeces and P. aeruginosa from 2 consecutive blood cultures. The mare responded well to intensive medical therapy. Bacteraemia associated with colitis is unusual in an adult horse, although the percentage of animals that may be bacteraemic is unknown. The bacteria isolated, P. aeruginosa, a common pathogen of other sites in the horse, has not, to our knowledge, been previously reported as a cause of bacteraemia and septicaemia in an adult horse.