Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype O:1 infection in a captive Seba’s short tailed-fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata) colony in Switzerland

Hahn, K.; Veiga, I. B.; Schediwy, M.; Wiederkehr, Danja; Meniri, M.; Schneeberger, M.; den Broek, P. Rüegg-van; Gurtner, C.; Fasel, N. J.; Kittl, S.; Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M.; Schmitt, S.; Stokar-Regenscheit, N. (2021). Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype O:1 infection in a captive Seba’s short tailed-fruit bat (Carollia perspicillata) colony in Switzerland BMC Veterinary Research, 17(1) BioMed Central 10.1186/s12917-021-02796-y

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Background Between February and April 2016, a slight increase in mortality was observed in a colony consisting of 400 captive Seba’s short-tailed bats (Carollia perspicillata). These animals cohabited with other nocturnal animal species in a dome of a private zoo in Switzerland. Results Gross and histological analysis of two (14.3%) out of the 13 animals submitted for necropsy within this period revealed a necrosuppurative pneumonia, hepatitis, splenitis, enterocolitis, and endometritis, with abundant intralesional colonies of Gram-negative rods. Yersinia (Y.) pseudotuberculosis serotype O:1 and biotype 1 belonging to the sequence type ST90 was isolated from the affected organs in both animals. Following this diagnosis, ¼ of the colony (99 animals) was culled and submitted for gross and histopathological analysis, and a bacterial culture selective for Yersinia spp. of lung, liver, and spleen was performed. From these 99 animals, one gravid female was tested and found to be positive for Y. pseudotuberculosis in the absence of clinical symptoms and histopathological lesions. PCR analysis of altogether three bacterial isolates for virulence factors revealed the presence of the ail gene, and one isolate was also positive for the virF and yadA plasmid genes. Conclusions These findings suggest that Carollia perspicillata are susceptible to lethal yersiniosis but do not represent a regular reservoir for Y. pseudotuberculosis. Culling of ¼ of the population was sufficient to limit the spread of this infection among the colony. Moreover, no infections were detected in cohabitant nocturnal animals and caretakers, indicating that the zoonotic risk in this case was low.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL
School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture
School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL > Agriculture > Livestock and Horses

Name:

Hahn, K.;
Veiga, I. B.;
Schediwy, M.;
Wiederkehr, Danja;
Meniri, M.;
Schneeberger, M.;
den Broek, P. Rüegg-van;
Gurtner, C.;
Fasel, N. J.;
Kittl, S.;
Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M.;
Schmitt, S. and
Stokar-Regenscheit, N.

Subjects:

Q Science > QR Microbiology

ISSN:

1746-6148

Publisher:

BioMed Central

Language:

English

Submitter:

Danja Wiederkehr

Date Deposited:

04 Aug 2021 14:46

Last Modified:

21 Sep 2021 02:18

Publisher DOI:

10.1186/s12917-021-02796-y

ARBOR DOI:

10.24451/arbor.15267

URI:

https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/15267

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