Pyometra is a life-threatening infectious disease that frequently affects bitches and queens. Although histopathological patterns of pyometra have been extensively explored, the microbiological aspects, such as bacteria pathogenicity, have not been correlated to microscopy endometrial lesions so far. In this study, these two pathological aspects of pyometra were analysed and correlated. Uterus fragments and intrauterine content samples were collected from pets diagnosed with pyometra (30) and submitted to histopathology analysis and bacterial culture, respectively. The degree of endometrial histopathological lesions in pyometra cases were classified as mild, moderate and severe. Thirty different bacteria isolates were identified from intrauterine content culture. Escherichia coli (E. coli) was pure isolated in 57.7% and highly related to severe endometrial lesions. Immunohistochemistry assay revealed the adhesion and invasion of this bacteria agent to the injured endometrium. Virulence aspects of these E. coli strains were explored, demonstrating biofilm formation ability and a set of virulence genes in most isolates. These results support the adaptive genetic and phenotypic advantages of E. coli for uterus infection, and justify the high frequency of this agent involved in pyometra cases.

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive bacterium, commonly found colonizing the skin and mucous membranes of humans and animals. This report describes a case of fetal loss associated with S. aureus infection in a cow. A six-month old, crossbred male bovine fetus from a beef farm was submitted for necropsy. At gross examination fibrinous pleuropneumonia was observed. Histologically, lesions were restricted to the lungs and consisted of marked multifocal to coalescing areas of inflammatory infiltrate of neutrophils, abundant fibrin exudation, necrosis of bronchiolar epithelium and numerous aggregates of coccoid bacteria. Lung and abomasal fluid bacterial culture yielded pure culture of S. aureus, which was characterized as a multidrug resistant strain. Molecular analysis indicated that the studied strain presented several genes of virulence factors including toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (tst), staphylococcal enterotoxin type A (sea), Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl), alpha-hemolysin (hla) and delta-hemolysin (hld). This report documents an infrequent case of fetal loss in cattle due to infection with a highly virulent S. aureus strain.

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