Characterization of Pasteurella multocida isolated from dead rabbits with respiratory disease in Fujian, China

Abstract

Background Pasteurella multocida is one of the important pathogens infects rabbits, causing major economic losses in commercial rabbit farming. In this study, 205 P. multocida isolates recovered from lungs of dead rabbits with respiratory disease were defined capsular serogroups, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) genotypes and multi-locus sequence types, screened virulence factors, and tested antimicrobial susceptibility. Results The 205 isolates were assigned into 2 capsular types, A and D, and 2 LPS genotypes, L3 and L6. When combining capsular types with LPS genotypes, 4 serotypes were detected. A:L3 (51.22%, 105/205) was the most predominant serotype, followed by A:L6 (24.88%, 51/205), D:L6 (19.02%, 39/205), and D:L3 (4.88%, 10/205). The 205 isolates were grouped into 3 sequence types, ST10, ST11 and ST12. ST12 (56.10%, 115/205) was the most prevalent sequence type, followed by ST10 (24.88%, 51/205) and ST11 (19.02%, 39/205). In the 205 isolates, the virulence genes of ptfA, fur, hgbB, ompA, ompH and oma87 were positive, whereas the toxA and tbpA genes were negative. Notably, the 156 capsular serogroup A isolates carried pmHAS gene. All the 205 isolates were susceptible to most of the used antibiotics, except for streptomycin, gentamycin, kanamycin and ceftriaxone, and the resistance rates of which were 27.80%, 15.61%, 9.27% and 2.44%, respectively. Conclusions This study, for the first time, described the prevalence and characteristics of P. multocida causing respiratory disease in rabbits in Fujian Province, which might be useful for tracking the epidemic strains and development of efficient vaccines and methods to prevent and control the pathogen.

Characterisation of Bordetella bronchiseptica isolated from rabbits in Fujian, China

“…Fujian Province, in the southeast of China, is one of the important rabbit-farming areas in China [13]. The number of live rabbits farmed was about 9.4 million by the end of 2018 (Fujian Statistical Yearbook, 2019).…”

Assessment of animal diseases caused by bacteria resistant to antimicrobials: rabbits

“…For penicillins , one study from Egypt reported that all of 10 included isolates were resistant to both ampicillin (included as a surrogate for penicillin/amoxicillin, used only by the parenteral route in rabbits) and amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (Awad and Abd El‐Hamid, 2019). Another study from Brazil (Ferreira et al, 2012) found 10.9% and 6.5% of 45 isolates resistant to penicillin and amoxicillin, respectively, whereas a Chinese study found all 205 included isolates susceptible to penicillin (Wang et al, 2019). All isolates from the Brazilian and Chinese studies were susceptible to fluoroquinolones (enrofloxacin), whereas 1% of isolates from the French surveillance system were resistant to this drug (RESAPATH, 2020).…”

Characterization of Bordetella Bronchiseptica Isolated from Rabbits in Fujian, China

“…bronchiseptica spreads rapidly in rabbits and the infection is often persistent, causing economic losses to the rabbit farming [9]. Fujian Province, in the southeast of China, is one of the important rabbit farming areas in China [10]. To the best of our knowledge, B. bronchiseptica is a common pathogen isolated from rabbits with respiratory disease in Fujian Province.…”