Algaemia in a dairy cow byPrototheca blaschkeae

Abstract

We describe the first known case of an algaemia by Prototheca blaschkeae in a dairy cow, which occurred after a chronic episode of mastitis caused by this pathogen. The organism was isolated from milk, joint fluid and blood samples, and microbiologic and molecular methods were performed to obtain a definitive identification of the algae. The affected cow was culled only after confirmation of a systemic infection by Prototheca.

Molecular characterization of Polish Prototheca zopfii mastitis isolates and first isolation of Prototheca blaschkeae in Poland

“…Up to now, there have been very few reports on the association of P. blaschkeae with bovine mastitis. Apart from the aforementioned study of Marques et al (2008) such association was found in a study of Aouay et al (2008) and that of Thompson et al (2009). The present investigation is therefore, to our knowledge, the fourth to evidence the role of P. blaschkeae in the causation of bovine mastitis.…”

Simultaneous identification by multiplex PCR of major Prototheca spp. isolated from bovine and buffalo intramammary infection and bulk tank

“…; Thompson et al . ). Even in human, protothecosis is mainly caused by P. wickerhamii (Lass‐Flörl and Mayr ), in veterinary medicine, P. zopfii is reported as causative agents of protothecosis in dogs and bovine (Migaki et al .…”

“…They are ubiquitous in nature, living predominantly in aqueous environments containing decomposing plant material (Anderson and Walker 1988;Huerre et al 1993). Within the known Prototheca spp., only Prototheca zopfii, P. wickerhamii and P. blaschkeae have been associated with disease in humans and animals (Roesler and Hensel 2003;Pfaller and Diekema 2005;Roesler et al 2006;Zaitz et al 2006; Thompson et al 2009). Even in human, protothecosis is mainly caused by P. wickerhamii (Lass-Fl€ orl and Mayr 2007), in veterinary medicine, P. zopfii is reported as causative agents of protothecosis in dogs and bovine (Migaki et al 1982;Hodges et al 1985;Corbellini et al 2001;Hosaka and Hosaka 2004).…”

Establishment of a matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry database for rapid identification of infectious achlorophyllous green micro-algae of the genus Prototheca

“…nov., has been identified [4]. Among the species, P. zopfii, P. blaschkeae, P. wickerhamii and P. cutis have been shown to produce infections in cattle and dogs, and they can also act as opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised humans [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Interestingly, P. zophii includes two genotypes, 1 and 2, and only genotype 2 has been associated with infection [3,8,9,14,15].…”