Sudden Death of Cattle Caused byBibersteinia trehalosiInfection in Korea

Abstract

Two cases of sudden death without clinical signs in a four-month-old female Hanwoo (Bos taurus coreanae) and sixteen-month-old female Holstein (Bos taurus taurus) were investigated. Severe pneumonia and septicemia were found on postmortem examination. Petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages were present in the subcutaneous tissues of the neck region. The lungs remained expanded without collapsing, and the mediastinal lymph nodes were enlarged. A significant number of hemorrhagic bubbles were present in the tracheal lumen. On histopathology, the alveolar blood vessels were moderately congested, and inflammatory cells and multinucleated syncytial cells were found in the alveolar space. The pathogen isolated from the lesion was identified as Bibersteinia trehalosi using MALDI-TOF and 16S rRNA gene and sodA gene sequence analyses. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of B. trehalosi infection in cattle in Korea.