Fusobacteriosis in captive wild-caught pronghorns

Veterinary Pathology Online
http://vet.sagepub.com/ Fusobacteriosis in Captive Wild-caught Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana)
J. F. Edwards, D. S. Davis, T. J. Roffe, F. Ramiro-Ibañez and P. H. Elzer Vet Pathol 2001 38: 549 DOI: 10.1354/vp.38-5-549 The online version of this article can be found at: http://vet.sagepub.com/content/38/5/549

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Vet Pathol 38:549–552 (2001)

Fusobacteriosis in Captive Wild-caught Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana)
˜ J. F. EDWARDS, D. S. DAVIS, T. J. ROFFE, F. RAMIRO-IBANEZ, AND

P. H. ELZER

Abstract. An outbreak ofFusobacterium necrophorum-induced septicemia occurred in a group of 40 captive wild-caught pronghorns (Antilocapra americana). Primary pododermatitis or necrotic stomatitis progressed to produce fatal septicemia with metastatic lesions in the forestomachs, lung, liver, and cecum in 38 of the animals. Two remaining animals were euthanatized because of chronic pododermatitis. Housing the animals in a pasturepreviously used by bovids and heavy rains with persistence of ground water pools in the pasture were contributing factors in the pathogenesis of this outbreak. Key words: Antilocapra americana; Fusobacterium necrophorum; necrobacillosis; pronghorns. Tissues routinely examined included brain, liver, heart, skeletal muscle, tongue, kidney, rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum, small intestine, cecum,colon, adrenal gland, spleen, superficial cervical and prefemoral lymph nodes, affected feet, and lung. Periodically during the outbreak, lesions collected from animals presented with little postmortem autolysis were cultured aerobically for bacterial pathogens on blood agar, Maconkey agar, and tryptose broth and anaerobically on blood agar and brain-heart infusion broth (Difco, Detroit, MI) withoxyrase (Oxyrase, Inc., Mansfield, OH). Isolates were identified to genus or to genus and species using the Vitek Auto Microbic System (BioMerieux Vitek, Hazelwood, MO). Lesions in the first two affected animals were similar. A severe, draining pododermatitis was present in one foot in each animal (Fig. 1). Necrotic tissue and inflammation surrounded the foot subcutaneously and extended along tendonsheaths proximally almost to the level of the fetlock. Viable tissue was sharply demarcated from the necrotic areas. Arthritis occurred in the P2–3 joint, with purulent material exuding from the swollen interdigital area, especially at the heel. Multifocal dry white lesions with dark red borders were observed in the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and, in one animal, liver, indicating systemic spread ofthe infection (Figs. 2, 3). Based on the characteristic macroscopic and histologic lesions, fusobacterial pododermatitis with systemic fusobacteriosis, ‘‘necrobacillosis,’’ was diagnosed. F. necrophorum was isolated from representative lesions of the feet, forestomachs, and liver. Subsequently, animals were presented on an almost daily basis, with similar lesions. Occasionally, additional lesionsof septicemic fusobacteriosis were noted in the lung and tongue (Fig. 4). By 18 days after the first deaths, 15 pronghorns had died of typical necrobacillosis. On day 18, an animal was presented without pododermatitis but with lesions typical of fusobacterial necrotic stomatitis in the buccal mucosa at the commissures of the mouth (Fig. 5). In addition, lesions of necrobacillosis were noted in the...