Bilateral pyelonephritis due to Escherichia coli infection in a captive jaguar (Panthera onca)

Abstract

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) is a highly diverse pathotype of E. coli which colonizes the intestine, and it is considered an important etiological agent associated with bacteremia and other systemic infections, among them urinary tract infection. Retrospective studies evaluating morbidity and mortality of nondomestic felids have demonstrated that urinary tract diseases are among the main causes of death for geriatric animals. Also, mesenchymal neoplasms of the uterus are common in wild felids, and they possess variable morphologic characteristics related to invasiveness and malignancy. This report describes a case of bilateral pyelonephritis due to extraintestinal uropathogenic E. coli infection in a captive jaguar (Panthera onca). The diagnosis was confirmed through pathological, bacterial and immunohistochemical findings. According to molecular analysis, this E. coli strain was classified in the phylogroup F, possessing the following virulence-associated genes: usp, cnf-1, hlyA, papC and sfa. Additionally, this E. coli was highly resistant to β-lactams and first-generation cephalosporin. This jaguar also presented a uterine leiomyoma with distinct distribution, and severe degenerative articular disease, both of them described as frequently seen lesions in geriatric animals from the Panthera genus.

Urethral obstruction secondary to Staphylococcus felis chronic urethritis and hepatoid gland adenoma in a captive ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)

“…In wild felids, Carvalho et al (5) reported a suppurative hemorrhagic cystitis in an adult male snow leopard (Panthera uncia) caused by an extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strain. Additionally, Wronski et al (32) reported a case of pyelonephritis due to uropathogenic E. coli in a captive jaguar (Panthera onca). However, in this case, urinary obstruction was caused by association of an inflammatory process and a compressive neoplasm.…”