Transmission of Escherichia coli Causing Pyometra between Two Female Dogs

• Published in: Microorganisms (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 2465
• Main Authors: Xavier, Rafael Gariglio Clark, Santana, Clarissa Helena, da Silva, Paloma Helena Sanches, Aburjaile, Flávia Figueira, Pereira, Felipe Luiz, Figueiredo, Henrique César Pereira, Freitas, Patrícia Maria Coletto, Santos, Renato Lima, Silva, Rodrigo Otávio Silveira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 14.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Anemia; Animals; Anorexia; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Bacterial infections; Case Report; Dogs; Drug resistance; E coli; Eating disorders; Endometrium; EnPEC; Escherichia coli; ExPEC; Females; Gene sequencing; Genomes; Histology; Hyperplasia; Hypotheses; Infections; Infectious diseases; Microbiological analysis; Microbiology; Multilocus sequence typing; Necrosis; Neutrophils; Nucleotide sequence; Nucleotides; Ovaries; Pathogenesis; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymorphism; Rectum; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Surgery; Thrombocytopenia; UPEC; Uterus; Virulence; Virulence factors; Whole genome sequencing; United States > US; EnPEC; UPEC; ExPEC
• ISSN: 2076-2607; 2076-2607
• DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10122465

Despite its clinical relevance, the pathogenesis of canine pyometra remains poorly understood. To date, it is recognized as a non-transmissible infectious disease. In this study, the simultaneous occurrence of pyometra and in two cohabitant female dogs underwent in-depth investigation due to the hypothesis of transmission between these animals. Two 5-year-old Chow Chow dogs (namely, dogs 23 and 24-D23 and D24) were referred to a veterinary hospital with suspected pyometra. Both animals showed prostration, anorexia, and purulent vulvar discharge over a 1-week period. After ovariohysterectomy, uterine tissue, uterine contents, and rectal swabs were collected for histopathological and microbiological analysis. Uterine histology demonstrated purulent material and multifocal necrosis with endometrial ulceration, and a morphological diagnosis of pyometra was confirmed. Furthermore, from the same phylogroup (B2) and positive for the same virulence factors with the same antimicrobial susceptibility profile was isolated from the uterine contents of both dogs and the rectum of D23. Conversely, the strains recovered from D24 differed in phylogroup (one isolate), virulence factors (all three isolates), and antimicrobial susceptibility (all three isolates). Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) suggested that all isolates from the uterine content of both dogs and the rectal swab of D23 were 100% the same, but different from all isolates in the rectal swab of D24. One isolate from the uterine content of each animal as well as rectal swabs were subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Both whole-genome multilocus sequence typing(wgMLST) and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis supported the hypothesis that the isolates from the uterine content of both animals and the rectal swab of D23 were clonal. Taken together, these clinical features, pathology, microbiology, and molecular findings suggest, to the best of our knowledge, the first transmission of associated with pyometra between two animals. These results could impact the management of sites where several females cohabit in the same local area such as kennels.