Isolation of Helcococcus Ovis from Sheep with Pleuritis and Bronchopneumonia

Abstract

Helcococcus ovis is a newly established species in the genus Helcococcus. The clinical significance of this organism in sheep has not been reported. In the current report, isolation of H. ovis from a 6-month-old mixed-breed ewe lamb that died of respiratory disease is described. Pathologic examination revealed severe, focally extensive, chronic necrotizing pleuritis with intralesional coccobacilli and mild, multifocal, subacute mucopurulent bronchopneumonia, indicating a bacterial etiology. A Gram-positive bacterium was isolated in heavy growth from the lung tissue. DNA sequence analysis on the 16S rDNA gene demonstrated that the isolate was H. ovis. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of isolation of H. ovis associated with infection in sheep with pleuritis and bronchopneumonia.

High-Throughput Sequencing for Detection of Subpopulations of Bacteria Not Previously Associated with Artisanal Cheeses

“…Helcococcus spp. have been associated with clinical problems in humans (12), cows (30), sheep (47), and horses (41) and thus, in this instance, may reflect the sourcing of contaminated milk from an infected animal. Given that in this study these insights were gained through the analysis of merely a 1-g sample per cheese, it may be that further investigations of even larger sample sizes and at a greater depth of sequencing will uncover additional genera not previously associated with cheese.…”

Helcococcus ovis isolated from a goat with purulent bronchopneumonia and pulmonary abscesses

“…Since then, H. ovis has attracted an emerging interest in veterinary medicine where it has been reported as the primary pathogen in association with valvular endocarditis in cattle, 4 with a pulmonary abscess in a horse, 5 and in a sheep with pleuritis and bronchopneumonia. 6 In the current case, the only affected animal belonged to a Verata breed herd located on an estate near the city of Badajoz (Extremadura) in southwest Spain where the goats have been reared under a semi-extensive management system. The goats are grazed during the day and are confined and given feed supplements in the goat house at night.…”

Identification and Clinical Significance of Helcococcus kunzii in Human Samples

“…To date, four species have been described: Helcococcus kunzii (1993) (1), Helcococcus ovis (1999) (3), Helcococcus sueciensis (2004) (4), and Helcococcus seattlensis (2014) (5). H. ovis has been described from different animals but never from humans (3,(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). H. sueciensis has been isolated only in humans from two wound infections and one bacteremia infection (4,5).…”