Bacterial species associated with interdigital phlegmon outbreaks in Finnish dairy herds

Abstract

BackgroundSevere outbreaks of bovine interdigital phlegmon (IP) have occurred recently in several free stall dairy herds in Finland. We studied the aetiology of IP in such herds, and the association of bacterial species with the various stages of IP and herds of various morbidity of IP. Nineteen free stall dairy herds with IP outbreaks and three control herds were visited and bacteriological samples collected from cows suffering from IP (n = 106), other hoof diseases (n = 58), and control cows (n = 64). The herds were divided into high morbidity (morbidity ≥50%) and moderate morbidity groups (9–33%) based on morbidity during the first two months of the outbreak.ResultsF. necrophorum subspecies necrophorum was clearly associated with IP in general, and T. pyogenes was associated with the healing stage of IP. Six other major hoof pathogens were detected; Dichelobacter nodosus, Porphyromonas levii, Prevotella melaninogenica, Treponema spp. and Trueperella pyogenes. Most of the samples of acute IP (66.7%) harboured both F. necrophorum and D. nodosus. We found differences between moderate morbidity and high morbidity herds. D. nodosus was more common in IP lesion in high than in moderate morbidity herds.ConclusionsOur result confirms that F. necrophorum subspecies necrophorum is the main pathogen in IP, but also T. pyogenes is associated with the healing stage of IP. Our results suggest that D. nodosus may play a role in the severity of the outbreak of IP, but further research is needed to establish other bacteriological factors behind these severe outbreaks.

Pathogenicity and Virulence of Trueperella pyogenes: A Review

“…T. pyogenes may cause infection as a primary etiological agent, but more frequently, this species is involved in polymicrobial diseases, such as mastitis [45], uterine infections [55], interdigital phlegmon [58], or liver abscesses [59]. This bacterium may be recovered from a mix infection of various bacterial species, but especially frequently with Gram-negative anaerobes, such as Fusobacterium necrophorum , Bacteroides spp., or Peptoniphilus (formerly Peptostreptococcus ) indolicus .…”

“…Bovine interdigital phlegmon incidence in dairy cows is usually 2–5% per lactation, but some cases of outbreaks were also reported [35,58,92,93]. The role of T. pyogenes in the pathogenesis of this polymicrobial disease is not well defined.…”

“…The role of T. pyogenes in the pathogenesis of this polymicrobial disease is not well defined. Kontturi et al [58] reported that this bacterium is rather a secondary pathogen associated with the healing stage of the infection, while Bay et al [94] did not detect T. pyogenes at all in the interdigital phlegmon investigation using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.…”

Subcutaneous abscess caused by Trueperella pyogenes in a bovine in the Western Amazon: case report

“…The prognosis of the disease varies depending on the occurrence of bacterial spread to more internal tissues and the immune status of the host (RADOSTITS;GAY;HINCHCLIFF, 2007;MEGID;RIBEIRO;PAES, 2016). In infections by T. pyogenes that culminate in arthritis, osteomyelitis, abortion, metritis, orchitis, omphalitis, bronchopneumonia and liver abscesses, the prognosis is established as reserved to poor (KONTTURI et al, 2019;PIERSANTI et al, 2019). However, resolution is simpler in cases of mastitis and subcutaneous abscess (ISHIYAMA et al, 2017).…”

“…Due to its pyogenic, opportunistic characteristic (taking advantage of a gateway), T. pyogenes causes suppurative infection in domestic and wild animals (RISSETI et al, 2017;ÇEÇEN et al, 2018;ROGOVSKYY et al, 2018), although virulence factors have not been fully elucidated (RISSETI et al, 2017;LIU et al, 2018;TAMAI et al, 2018). The evolution of the disease is related to cases of mastitis, arthritis, interdigital phlebitis, osteomyelitis, abortion, metritis, orchitis, omphalitis and bronchopneumonia as well as subcutaneous abscess or abscess in parenchymal tissues, with a variable prognosis (CAFFARO et al, 2014;ISHIYAMA et al, 2017;WARETH et al, 2018;KONTTURI et al, 2019;PIERSANTI et al, 2019).…”