Pasteurellosis
Encyclopedia
Pasteurellosis is an infection
with a species of the bacteria
genus Pasteurella
, which is found in human
s and animal
s.
Pasteurella multocida
(P. septica) is carried in mouth and respiratory tract of several animals, notably cats. It is a small Gram negative bacillus with bipolar staining by Wayson stain
. In animals it can originate fulminant septicaemia (chicken cholera), but is also a common commensal.
Pasteurellosis in humans is associated with a close animal contact, and may be transmitted by cat bite.
Other locations are possible, such as septic arthritis, meningitis
and acute endocarditis
, but are very rare.
e, Mycoplasma
e and virus
es. Environmental conditions (transportation, housing deficiency, and bad weather) also play a role.
The following diseases are considered caused by P. multocida, alone or associated to other pathogens:
. Either tetracycline or chloramphenicol
provides an alternative in beta-lactam intolerant patients.
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
with a species of the bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
genus Pasteurella
Pasteurella
Pasteurella is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacteria. Pasteurella species are non-motile and pleomorphic. Most species are catalase-positive and oxidase-positive....
, which is found in human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s.
Pasteurella multocida
Pasteurella multocida
Pasteurella multocida is a Gram-negative, non-motile coccobacillus that is penicillin-sensitive and belongs to the Pasteurellaceae family . It can cause avian cholera in birds and a zoonotic infection in humans, which typically is a result of bites or scratches from domestic pets...
(P. septica) is carried in mouth and respiratory tract of several animals, notably cats. It is a small Gram negative bacillus with bipolar staining by Wayson stain
Wayson stain
The Wayson stain is a basic fuchsin-methylene blue, ethyl alcohol-phenol microscopic staining procedure. It was originally a modified methylene blue stain used for diagnosing bubonic plague...
. In animals it can originate fulminant septicaemia (chicken cholera), but is also a common commensal.
Pasteurellosis in humans is associated with a close animal contact, and may be transmitted by cat bite.
Types
There are several forms of the infection:- Skin/subcutaneous tissue disease is a septicSepticSeptic may refer to:* Septic tank, a component of a small scale sewage disposal system* Septic equation, a polynomial equation of degree seven* Septic shock...
phlegmonPhlegmonPhlegmon is a spreading diffuse inflammatory process with formation of suppurative/purulent exudate or pus. This is the result of acute purulent inflammation which is due to bacterial infection.An example would be phlegmon of diverticulitis...
that develops classically in the hand and forearm after cat bite. Inflammatory signs are very rapid to develop; in 1 or 2 hours, edemaEdemaEdema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
, severe pain and serosanguineous exudateExudateAn exudate is any fluid that filters from the circulatory system into lesions or areas of inflammation. It can apply to plants as well as animals. Its composition varies but generally includes water and the dissolved solutes of the main circulatory fluid such as sap or blood...
appear. FeverFeverFever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
, moderate or very high can be seen along with vomiting, headache and diarrheaDiarrheaDiarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...
. LymphangitisLymphangitisLymphangitis is an inflammation of the lymphatic channels that occurs as a result of infection at a site distal to the channel. The most common cause of lymphangitis in humans is Streptococcus pyogenes...
is usual. Complications are possible, in the form of septic arthritisSeptic arthritisSeptic arthritis is the purulent invasion of a joint by an infectious agent which produces arthritis. People with artificial joints are more at risk than the general population but have slightly different symptoms, are infected with different organisms and require different treatment. Septic...
, osteitisOsteitisOsteitis is a general term for inflammation of bone. More specifically, it can refer to one of the following conditions:* Alveolar osteitis or "dry socket"* Condensing osteitis * Osteitis deformans...
or evolution to chronicity.
- Sepsis is very rare, but can be as fulminant as septicaemic plague, with high fever, rigorsRigor (medicine)Rigor is a shaking occurring during a high fever. It occurs because cytokines and prostaglandins are released as part of an immune response and increase the set point for body temperature in the hypothalamus....
and vomiting, followed by shock and coagulopathyCoagulopathyCoagulopathy is a condition in which the blood’s ability to clot is impaired. This condition can cause prolonged or excessive bleeding, which may occur spontaneously or following an injury or medical and dental procedures.The normal clotting process depends on the interplay of various proteins in...
.
- PneumoniaPneumonicPneumonic may refer to:* Lung* Pneumonic plague, a lung infection with Yersinia pestis.* Pneumonic device* Someone with Pneumonia...
disease is also rare and appears in patients with some chronic pulmonary pathologyPulmonary pathologyPulmonary pathology is the subspecialty of surgical pathology which deals with the diagnosis and characterization of neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases of the lungs and thoracic pleura. Diagnostic specimens are often obtained via bronchoscopic transbronchial biopsy, CT-guided percutaneous...
. It usually presents as bilateral consolidating pneumoniaPneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, sometimes very severe.
Other locations are possible, such as septic arthritis, meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
and acute endocarditis
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves . Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or even on intracardiac devices...
, but are very rare.
Pasteurellosis in animals
P. multocida causes numerous pathological conditions in domestic animals. It often acts together with other infectious agents, like ChlamydiaChlamydia (bacterium)
Chlamydia is a genus of bacteria that are obligate intracellular parasites. Chlamydia infections are the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infections in humans and are the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide....
e, Mycoplasma
Mycoplasma
Mycoplasma refers to a genus of bacteria that lack a cell wall. Without a cell wall, they are unaffected by many common antibiotics such as penicillin or other beta-lactam antibiotics that target cell wall synthesis. They can be parasitic or saprotrophic. Several species are pathogenic in humans,...
e and virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
es. Environmental conditions (transportation, housing deficiency, and bad weather) also play a role.
The following diseases are considered caused by P. multocida, alone or associated to other pathogens:
- Shipping fever in cattle and sheep.
- EnzooticEnzooticEnzootic is the non-human equivalent of endemic and means, in a broad sense, "belonging to" or "native to", "characteristic of", or "prevalent in" a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; native to an area or scope....
pneumonia of sheep (and goatGoatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, with frequent intervention of Mannheimia haemolytica) - Fowl choleraFowl choleraFowl cholera is also called avian cholera, avian pasteurellosis, avian hemorrhagic septicemia. It is the most common pasteurellosis of poultry. As the causative agent is Pasteurella multocida, it is considered as a zoonosis....
(chickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and other domestic poultry and cage birds) - Enzootic pneumonia and atrophic rhinitis of pigsPIGSPIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
- Pasteurellosis of chinchillaChinchillaChinchillas are crepuscular rodents, slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae....
s - Pasteurellosis of rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is made with isolation of Pasteurella multocida in a normally sterile site ( blood, pus or CSF).Treatment
Pasteurellosis is usually treated with high dose penicillinPenicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
. Either tetracycline or chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol is a bacteriostatic antimicrobial that became available in 1949. It is considered a prototypical broad-spectrum antibiotic, alongside the tetracyclines, and as it is both cheap and easy to manufacture it is frequently found as a drug of choice in the third world.Chloramphenicol is...
provides an alternative in beta-lactam intolerant patients.