title: Clonal complex Pseudomonas aeruginosa in horses.
abstract: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with infectious endometritis in horses. Although infectious endometritis is often considered a venereal infection, there is relatively limited genotypic-based evidence to support this mode of transmission. The study sought to determine the relatedness between genital P. aeruginosa isolates collected from a limited geographical region using molecular strain typing. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR typing was performed on 93 isolates collected between 2005 and 2009 from 2058 thoroughbred horses (including 18 stallions) at 66 studs. While P. aeruginosa was not detected in the stallions, 53/93 (57%) mares harbouring P. aeruginosa had clonally related strains, which included a single dominant genotype detected in 42 (45%) mares from 13 different studs. These novel findings suggest that most equine genital P. aeruginosa infections in this region may have been acquired from mechanisms other than direct horse to horse transmission. Instead, other potential acquisition pathways, as well as strain specific adaptation to the equine genital tract, should be investigated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Royal Children's Hospital, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Tim_Kidd@health.qld.gov.au
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Justine S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Ristan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Greer
authors.forename: Rowland N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Cobbold
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Kay A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Grimwood
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011793:Queensland; D060737:Reproductive Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial