title: Naturally occurring disseminated group B streptococcus infections in postnatal rats.
abstract: Group B Streptococcus (Streptococcus agalactiae, GBS) is a gram-positive commensal and occasional opportunistic pathogen of the human vaginal, respiratory, and intestinal tracts that can cause sepsis, pneumonia, or meningitis in human neonates, infants, and immunosuppressed persons. We report here on a spontaneous outbreak of postnatal GBS-associated disease in rats. Ten of 26 (38.5%) 21- to 24-d-old rat pups died or were euthanized due to a moribund state in a colony of rats transgenic for the human diphtheria toxin receptor on a Munich-Wistar-Frömter genetic background. Four pups had intralesional coccoid bacteria in various organs without accompanying inflammation. GBS was isolated from the liver of 2 of these pups and from skin abscesses in 3 littermates. A connection with the transgene could not be established. A treatment protocol was evaluated in the remaining breeding female rats. GBS is a potentially clinically significant spontaneous infection in various populations of research rats, with some features that resemble late-onset postnatal GBS infection in human infants.
authors.affiliation: Merck and Company, Rahway, New Jersey, USA. katherine.shuster@merck.com
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Shuster
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hish
authors.forename: Lindsi A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Selles
authors.forename: Mahboob A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Dysko
authors.forename: Ingrid L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Bergin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000662:veterinary*; D037901:Euthanasia, Animal; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D010401:Penicillin G Benzathine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae
chemical_list: D010401:Penicillin G Benzathine
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