Isolation of obligate anaerobic bacteria from ulcerative keratitis in domestic animals

Abstract

The results of the present study demonstrate that obligate anaerobic bacteria are present within the intralesional flora of ulcerative keratitis in domestic animals. In most species evaluated, these bacteria were identified infrequently. Anaerobic bacterial infection of the cornea most frequently occurs in association with other ocular pathogens and previous corneal abnormalities.

Bacteroides sp. as a cause of anaerobic keratitis in a pony

“…Clostridium spp. represented the majority of cases (Ledbetter and Scarlett 2008). In approximately half of the cases, anaerobes were isolated in conjunction with aerobic bacteria, as was the case in this report.…”

“…Risk factors identified for anaerobic infection of the cornea include ocular trauma, previous ocular disease and chronic dermatological disease (Ledbetter and Scarlett 2008). Although the pony in this report had no previous history of ocular disease, the initiating cause of the conjunctivitis and corneal ulcer was believed to be trauma, based on the acute onset of the clinical signs and the conjunctival defect identified by the referring veterinarian.…”

Equine deep stromal abscesses (51 cases – 2004–2009) –Part 1: the clinical aspects with attention to the duration of the corneal disease, treatment history, clinical appearance, and microbiology results

“…This can be suggested as a bias for the study because obligate anaerobic bacteria could be a potential agent for deep stromal abscesses. A study by Ledbetter and Scarlett found that 12.9% (18 of 140) of bacterially infected equine ulcerative keratitis cases had one or more obligate anaerobic bacteria present . Our study is a retrospective study, and it was therefore not possible to perform anaerobic culture on the 51 cases.…”

Evaluation of microbial contamination of canine plasma eyedropper bottles following clinical use in canine patients

“…There were a number of different types of bacteria isolated from the bottles in this study (Table ), most of which are common members of the normal ocular flora in dogs, or bacteria that may be present on normal mammalian skin, mucous membranes, and within the gastrointestinal tract . Bacterial keratitis in dogs is usually a result of opportunistic infection of the cornea by bacteria that is part of the normal ocular flora .…”