Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cerebral listeriosis in an adult Freiberger gelding.
- Journal:
- Journal of comparative pathology
- Year:
- 2006
- Authors:
- Rütten, M et al.
- Affiliation:
- Institute of Veterinary Pathology
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
This report discusses a rare case of a Freiberger gelding, which is an adult horse, that developed a serious infection in the brain caused by a bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes. The horse showed severe neurological symptoms that appeared suddenly and collapsed within a day. Unfortunately, the horse was humanely euthanized due to the severity of its condition. A thorough examination after death revealed multiple small areas of infection in the brain, and tests confirmed the presence of the Listeria bacteria. Sadly, the treatment options were not effective, leading to the horse's death.
Abstract
Listeria monocytogenes infection, although rare in horses, can lead to septicaemia, gastroenteritis and abortion or stillborn foals. Equine cerebral listeriosis has been reported, but only in newborn animals. This report describes a Freiberger gelding with severe neuronal symptoms of sudden onset. The animal collapsed within 24 h and was humanely killed. Necropsy revealed multiple small brown to reddish foci within the brain stem and pons. Histopathology demonstrated multifocal suppurative meningoencephalitis with microabscesses and occasional intra-lesional, coccoid to rod-shaped, bacteria. These were identified immunohistochemically as Listeria spp. and further specified as L. monocytogenes by a commercial test system based on in-situ hybridization.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16542674/