title: Listeria monocytogenes associated kerato-conjunctivitis in four horses in Norway.
abstract: Listeria monocytogenes has been reported to cause various infectious diseases in both humans and animals. More rarely, ocular infections have been reported. To our knowledge, only two cases of Listeria keratitis have been described in horses. We report kerato-conjunctivitis in four Norwegian horses associated with L. monocytogenes. Clinically, all cases were presented with recurrent unilateral kerato-conjunctivitis. L. monocytogenes bacteria were isolated from swab samples from all cases, and cytology carried out in 3 cases was indicative of L. monocytogenes infection. The present report describes the first known cases in which L. monocytogenes has been isolated from keratitic lesions in horses in Norway. A potential risk factor may be feeding of silage or haylage, but other sources of infection cannot be ruled out. The phenotypic features including antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype of the isolates are described. Laboratory detection of L. monocytogenes demands extra caution since only low numbers of bacteria were detected in the eye-swabs, probably due to the low volume of sample material and the intracellular niche of the bacterium. A general poor response to treatment in all these cases indicates that clinicians should pay extra attention to intensity and duration of treatment if L. monocytogenes is identified in connection with equine kerato-conjunctivitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. tobias.revold@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Revold
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. takeletefera99@gmail.com.|School of Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Debre-Zeit, Ethiopia. takeletefera99@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Takele
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abayneh
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. hege.brun-hansen@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Hege
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brun-Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. signelundkleppe@gmail.com.|Aktiv Dyreklinikk, 1484, Hakadal, Norway. signelundkleppe@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Signe L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kleppe
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. ernst.ropstad@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Ernst-Otto
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Ropstad
authors.affiliation: Rikstotoklinikken Bjerke, Postboks 194, Økern, 0510, Oslo, Norway. fred.hellings@rikstoto.no.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hellings
authors.affiliation: Department of Companion Animal Clinical Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (previously Norwegian School of Veterinary Science), Ullevålsveien 72, Postbox 8146 Dep, 0033, Oslo, Norway. henning.sorum@nmbu.no.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sørum
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006736:Horses; D007639:Keratoconjunctivitis, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway