Acinetobacter in veterinary medicine, with an emphasis on Acinetobacter baumannii

Abstract

Acinetobacter spp. are aerobic, rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the Moraxellaceae family of the class Gammaproteobacteria and are considered ubiquitous organisms. Among them, Acinetobacter baumannii is the most clinically significant species with an extraordinary ability to accumulate antimicrobial resistance and survive in the hospital environment. Recent reports indicate that A. baumannii has also evolved into a veterinary nosocomial pathogen. Although Acinetobacter spp. can be identified to species level by the use of the matrix-assisted laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) coupled with an updated database, molecular techniques are still necessary for genotyping and determination of clonal lineages. It seems that the majority of infections due to A. baumannii in veterinary medicine are nosocomial. Such isolates have been associated with several type of infections such as canine pyoderma, feline necrotizing fasciitis, urinary tract infections, equine thrombophlebitis and lower respiratory tract infections, foal sepsis, pneumonia in mink and cutaneous lesions in hybrid falcon. Given the potential multidrug resistance of A. baumannii, treatment of diseased animals is often supportive and should be based preferably on in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing. It should be noted that animal isolates show a high genetic diversity and are in general distinct in their sequence types and resistance patterns from those found in humans. However, it cannot be excluded that animals may occasionally play a role as reservoir for A. baumannii. In line, it is of importance to implement infection control measures in veterinary hospitals to avoid nosocomial outbreaks with multidrug-resistant A. baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii – a neglected pathogen in veterinary and environmental health in Germany

“…This however, does not apply to veterinary medicine. The current knowledge on antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii from animal origin is mostly based on internationally published case reports, investigations of strain collections and several whole genome analyses as summarised by Müller et al (2014) and van der Kolk et al (2018). This lack of data results in a somewhat sketchy picture on how to assess the impact of drug resistant A. baumannii strains on veterinary and public health.…”

“…This lack of data results in a somewhat sketchy picture on how to assess the impact of drug resistant A. baumannii strains on veterinary and public health. It is not yet clear if animals indeed pose a risk as reservoir for A. baumannii; genetically distinct animal isolates have been reported by Wilharm et al (2018) and by van der Kolk et al (2018), whereas companion animals have been found to carry isolates more closely related to human strains (Ewers et al 2017;Walther et al 2018), which could be an indication for humans possibly infecting their pets.…”

“…The highest mortality rates however, are seen in ventilatorassociated pneumonia and bloodstream infections (Dijkshoorn et al 2007). In comparison to human medicine, the data obtained from veterinary medicine are relatively limited (Müller et al 2014;van der Kolk et al 2018). In livestock (cattle, pig), A. baumannii has been observed as a cause of mastitis, pneumonia, and sepsis.…”

“…Horses have been reported to develop wound infections, septicaemia, and bronchopneumonia as well as neonatal encephalopathy and eye infections. In dogs and cats A. baumannii has been isolated from wound, bloodstream and urinary tract infections (Müller et al 2014;van der Kolk et al 2018).…”

“…The emergence of drug resistant Acinetobacter spp., especially A. baumannii in hospitals, but also in veterinary clinics and the environment has been observed throughout the world and has become a cause of concern (Dijkshoorn et al 2007;Diancourt et al 2010;Müller et al 2014;van der Kolk et al 2018). Severe nosocomial infections are recurrently associated with epidemic spread, outbreak strains are frequently multidrug resistant (MDR) and the increasing occurrence of strains resistant to carbapenems or to last resource antimicrobial agents such as colistin is alarming (Diancourt et al 2010;Zordan et al 2011;Zarrilli et al 2013;Guerra et al 2014).…”