Bacteremia in Equine Neonatal Diarrhea: A Retrospective Study (1990–2007)

Abstract

Background: Bacteremia in sick foals is associated with survival, but the association of bacteremia and diarrhea is not reported.Hypothesis: Neonatal foals with diarrhea will commonly be bacteremic. Animals: One hundred and thirty-three neonatal foals.Methods: Records of all foals o30 days of age presenting with diarrhea between January 1990 and September 2007 were reviewed.Results: Sixty-six of 133 foals (50%) were bacteremic at admission, with 75 isolates from the 66 samples. The blood culture from a further 18 foals (13.5%) grew coryneform bacteria. Nine foals (6.8%) had 2 or more organisms grown on blood culture. One foal had 5 different organisms, interpreted as contamination. Forty-eight foals (36%) had no growth on admission blood cultures. No cultures isolated fungal organisms. Excluding coryneform bacteria, 43 isolates (57%) were Gram-negative organisms and 32 isolates (43%) were Gram-positive organisms. The most common isolate was Enterococcus spp. (22 isolates, 29%), followed by Pantoea agglomerans (13 isolates, 17%). IgG concentration at admission was not associated with blood culture status. Blood culture status was not associated with survival to hospital discharge.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Bacteremia is common in neonatal foals with diarrhea. Decisions regarding antimicrobial selection should be made with these differences in mind.

Infectious Agents Detected in the Feces of Diarrheic Foals: A Retrospective Study of 233 Cases (2003–2008)

“…Because of the small number of animals in each category, a lack of significant difference in a given laboratory variable between groups must be taken cautiously due to the low statistical power of such comparison. There was no relationship between blood culture status and survival as also reported by Hollis et al 22 In a recent retrospective study of 423 bacteremic foals, presence of diarrhea was associated with higher odds of survival. 23 In the present study, sepsis score was not associated with blood culture results.…”

“…These results differ slightly from a previous report in which 64% of 22 Salmonella shedders were blood culture positive and all 8 foals who had Salmonella bacteremia were also fecal shedders. 22 This can be explained by the fact that Salmonella was more likely to be cultured from the feces of foals 4 1 month of age in the present study and older foals were significantly less likely to be bacteremic.…”

“…22 The characteristics of both populations were similar with a median age of 4 days at the time of blood culture collection. In both studies, approximately 50% of the blood cultures were positive for at least 1 microorganism.…”

“…(11 versus 29% of isolates) was identified more frequently at the University of Pennsylvania. 22 This could simply reflect differences in geographic area, ambient temperature, or climate.…”

Disparities in TLR5 Expression and Responsiveness to Flagellin in Equine Neutrophils and Mononuclear Phagocytes

“…excessive stimulation of immune system in equine diseases associated with bacterial infection (e.g., colitis and sepsis in foals) (23,52). Monocytes, in contrast, are recruited later to sites of infection and play an important role in producing mediators that help restrict the spread of microorganisms and promote removal of cellular debris.…”