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. 2018 May;30(3):483-485.
doi: 10.1177/1040638717753965. Epub 2018 Jan 11.

High mortality in foals associated with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Abortusequi infection in Italy

Erika Grandolfo  1   2   3   4 , Antonio Parisi  1   2   3   4 , Antonia Ricci  1   2   3   4 , Eleonora Lorusso  1   2   3   4 , Rocco de Siena  1   2   3   4 , Adriana Trotta  1   2   3   4 , Domenico Buonavoglia  1   2   3   4 , Vito Martella  1   2   3   4 , Marialaura Corrente  1   2   3   4
Affiliations

High mortality in foals associated with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Abortusequi infection in Italy

Erika Grandolfo et al. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2018 May.

Abstract

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Abortusequi is frequently reported as a cause of abortion in mares and neonatal septicemia and polyarthritis in Asian and African countries, but only sporadically in Europe and the United States. We report an outbreak of S. Abortusequi in foals in Italy, characterized by high mortality. In a herd of Murgese horses, 10 of 34 newborns died at birth and a further 7 died, after developing severe clinical signs, during the first 10 d of life. Tissue specimens from different organs of 2 dead foals, synovial fluids from 4 sick foals, and vaginal and rectal swabs from their dams were cultured. A total of 16 isolates, all as pure cultures, were obtained and identified as Salmonella. The isolates exhibited the same antimicrobial resistance pattern and the same sequence type, ST251, a type that has been associated with S. Abortusequi. Six of 16 isolates were serotyped and found to be S. Abortusequi 4,12:-:e,n,x. Equine practitioners should be aware of S. Abortusequi infection as a cause of neonatal mortality in foals.

Keywords: Murgese foals; Salmonella Abortusequi; outbreak.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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