A case of necrotizing fasciitis with septic shock in a cat caused byAcinetobacter baumannii

Abstract

A 4-year-old, neutered female, domestic shorthair cat admitted to the animal hospital for recurrent constipation presumed to be due to post-traumatic injuries, went into shock with signs including fever and ataxia followed by stupor. On the fifth day of hospitalization, the cat developed severe, diffuse oedema of the ventral abdomen with multifocal to coalescing erythematous areas and small vesicle formation. The results of bacteriological cultures of liver, spleen and kidney specimens led to the diagnosis of Acinetobacter baumannii sepsis. Histopathological findings of skin samples taken during necropsy showed an extensive epidermal and dermal necrosis with septic vasculitis and numerous intralesional gram-negative bacteria. Detection of the bla(OXA-51-like) gene specific for A. baumannii by PCR, performed retrospectively on samples of the deep layers of the skin, confirmed the presence of A. baumannii also in the cutaneous lesions. To our knowledge this is the first report of a necrotizing fasciitis with septic shock in a cat caused by A. baumannii.

Clinical and Pathophysiological Overview of Acinetobacter Infections: a Century of Challenges

“…They have been either community-or hospital-onset cases and have not necessarily been the result of recognized, antecedent trauma. Acinetobacter has even caused septic shock due to necrotizing fasciitis in a house cat (222).…”

Role of Acinetobactin-Mediated Iron Acquisition Functions in the Interaction of Acinetobacter baumannii Strain ATCC 19606 T with Human Lung Epithelial Cells, Galleria mellonella Caterpillars, and Mice

“…Pneumonia has been the main manifestation of nosocomial infections caused by this pathogen that results in a significant impact on the mortality rate of patients (44). However, this microorganism has also been identified as the etiological agent responsible for a wide range of other infections, including septicemia, meningitis, and more recently, severe and deadly cases of necrotizing fasciitis (4,9,14,36). In addition, the emergence of multiple-drug-resistant strains responsible for infections in susceptible populations, such as wounded military personnel returning from the Middle East, has also presented a significant problem to clinicians (1,7).…”

Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms, Volume 4

“…This species caused severe respiratory symptoms in lovebird (Robino et al, 2005), septicaemia in hens (Kaya et al, 1989), bacteriospermia in pigs (Althouse and Lu, 2005) and arthritis in a racing pigeon (Duchatel et al, 2000). The role of A. baumannii as a nosocomial pathogen has also been recognized for dogs, cats and horses in intensive care units (Francey et al, 2000;Boerlin et al, 2001), and as the cause of necrotizing fasciitis and septic shock in a cat (Brachelente et al, 2007).…”

“…This species caused severe respiratory symptoms in lovebird (Robino et al, 2005), septicaemia in hens (Kaya et al, 1989), bacteriospermia in pigs (Althouse and Lu, 2005) and arthritis in a racing pigeon (Duchatel et al, 2000). The role of A. baumannii as a nosocomial pathogen has also been recognized for dogs, cats and horses in intensive care units (Francey et al, 2000;Boerlin et al, 2001), and as the cause of necrotizing fasciitis and septic shock in a cat (Brachelente et al, 2007).Mice infected with multi-resistant strains of A. baumanni are often used as model systems to evaluate new drugs and antibiotics (Braunstein et al, 2004;Dijkshoorn et al, 2004;Montero et al, 2004) and Caenorhabditis elegans and Dictyostelium discoideum infected with insertional-mutants are used as virulence assays for assessing the roles played by specific genes in pathogenicity (section 6.1).The presence of antibodies to A. calcoaceticus, but not other bacteria, was found in brains of animals suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) (Tiwana et al, 1999). This was discussed in section 8.6.…”