Pasteurella pneumotropica Infection
Pasteurella pneumotropica commonly colonizes rodent intestine, where it may be carried for long periods of time. The organism can also be isolated from the nasopharynx, conjunctiva, lower respiratory tract, and uterus as an inapparent infection.
Transmission probably occurs by direct contact or fecal contamination. The organism is frequently isolated in the absence of disease, and intranasal inoculation has failed to produce lesions in the upper or lower respiratory tract. On the other hand, it may represent an important secondary bacterial invader and opportunistic infection in primary M. pulmonis or Sendai virus infections. Interstitial pneumonia with polymorphonuclear cell infiltration has been observed in pregnant rats with primary Sendai virus and secondary P. pneumotropica infection. Fetal death and resorption occurred in approximately 30% of fetuses in infected animals. Abundant growth of P. pneumotrop- ica was recovered from the lungs of affected dams. An outbreak of chronic necrotizing mastitis in Fischer 344 rats has also been attributed to the organism. Intranasal inoculation of athymic F344-rnu rats with a number of P. pneumontropica isolates resulted in colonization of the respiratory tract, but variable disease. When present, clinical signs included sneezing, and lesions consisted of mild nasal mucosal necrosis and inflammation. These studies underscored the concept that pathogenicity of P. pneumotropica is generally mild and bacterial strain dependent.Pathology
Although infection is often subclinical in the absence of lesions, lesions may include rhinitis, sinusitis, conjunctivitis, otitis media, suppurative bronchopneumonia, subcutaneous abscessation, suppurative or chronic necrotizing mastitis, and pyometra.
Diagnosis
Recovery of the organism from lesions in pure culture is an important step in confirming the diagnosis. Pasteur- ella pneumotropica has bipolar staining properties and grows on conventional media under aerobic conditions. PCR can also be used to screen for P. pneumotropica as well as other Pasteurellaceae. Differential diagnosis includes other pyogenic organisms such as Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, or Pseudomonas.
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