Epizootiological Studies of <I>Salmonella typhimurium</I> Infection in Guinea Pigs

Abstract

In two natural outbreaks of S. typhimurium infection in guinea pigs, frequent isolations of the organism from the conjunctiva and cervical lymph nodes and high incidences of the conjunctivitis and abscess formation in the cervical lymph nodes were shown, suggesting more importance of the conjunctiva as infection route than oral route. These features in salmonellosis of guinea pigs were tried to reproduce in experimental infections by conjunctival and oral inoculations of 102 and 106 cells of 4 different strains of S. typhimurium and also by contact infection simulating natural conditions. As the results, it was demonstrated that guinea pigs were more susceptible to the conjunctival infection than the oral infection, because higher infection rates and more frequent incidence of abscess formation in the cervical lymph nodes as well as conjunctivitis were produced by the conjunctival inoculation than the oral inoculation of the organism. Main localization sites of the organism were the cervical lymph nodes, conjunctiva and upper respiratory tract in conjunctivally inoculated guinea pigs but more widely distributed in orally infected ones. These findings were common in animals infected with 4 different strains of S. typhimurium and also in contact infection.Thus the conjunctiva was regarded as an important route of S. typhimurium in guinea pigs.

Animal contact as a source of human non-typhoidal salmonellosis

“…A number of serotypes with importance for humans have been isolated from wild, laboratory or pet rodents (Figure 1 , Additional file 1 : Table S1). Clinical Salmonella outbreaks among guinea pigs and hamsters, associated with conjunctivitis and soft tissue abscesses, have also been described [ 188 , 189 ].…”

Infectious Diseases

“…Transmission of Salmonella is primarily fecal-oral or via ingestion of contaminated feed (contaminated with feces of infected guinea pig or a wild rodent) (Fox, 2002;Harkness and Wagner, 1995;Percy and Barthold, 2007;Quesenberry and Carpenter, 2004). Entry via the conjunctiva has also been reported in guinea pig epizootics (Iijima et al, 1987;Moore, 1957). Additionally, ingestion of contaminated blood or tissue can transmit Salmonella (Fox, 2002).…”

An abdominal cavity abscess associated with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium phage type DT2 in a dog: a case report

“…The formation of abscesses due to Salmonella infections was attributed to Salmonella serotypes in several cases in humans (Su et al 2003;Lin et al 2006;Singh et al 2011). In addition, Salmonella serotypes, which cause soft tissue abscesses in guinea pigs, hamsters (Iijima et al 1987), horses (Blikslager et al 1991), columbiform birds (doves and pigeons) (Pasmans et al 2003) and a grey collie (Moazed et al 1990), have been previously reported. Clinical symptoms such as systemic arthritis and osteomyelitis in horses (Platt 1973), and enteritis, metritis and abortion in rabbits (Agnoletti et al 2010), have been observed in outbreaks associated with Salmonella Typhimurium serotypes.…”