Pseudomonas Infection in Horses

Pseudomonas is a bacteria family that can cause many types of illnesses, from loss of sight to reproductive problems to death.
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Pseudomonas is a bacteria family that can cause many types of illnesses, from loss of sight to reproductive problems to death. Members of the genus Pseudomonas are commonly found in aquatic habitats (wet areas) and in the soil. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the species of Pseudomonas most commonly associated with infection in animals and people. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is often a part of the normal flora (normal population of bacteria that is there all the time) of the skin, mucous membranes, and intestinal contents of many healthy animals, hence its omnipresence in the environment of animals (and people).

Pseudomonas is of the Gram negative variety. Remember that the “Gram” status of most bacteria is either Gram positive or negative. This refers to how a particular bacterial genus stains with the special Gram stain–Gram positive is purple and Gram negative is red. This is an important characteristic of bacteria that aids in their identification.

Many of these Pseudomonas infections are considered to be opportunistic. Opportunistic infection means that the organism has a low ability to cause primary disease (is said to be of low “virulence”) and takes advantage of an “opportunity” to cause infection. These types of infections are commonly associated with predisposing factors such as wounds, corneal injury in the eye, wind-sucking (pneumovagina), immunosuppressive therapy (such as treatment with high doses of steroids) or diseases, prolonged administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics, poor sanitation, and burns. (Pseudomonas is a common infection encountered by people suffering from burns.)

Pseudomonas infections are classic nosocomial infections. Nosocomial, by definition, means infections that originate in a hospital. Most hospitalized patients, human and animal alike, have some degree of immune system compromise from their primary illness and are therefore more susceptible to infection. Pseudomonas species can be very resistant to disinfection and might develop significant antibiotic resistance; this appears to be a greater problem in human hospitals than equine hospitals, with respect to Pseudomonas infections

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Written by:

Michael A. Ball, DVM, completed an internship in medicine and surgery and an internship in anesthesia at the University of Georgia in 1994, a residency in internal medicine, and graduate work in pharmacology at Cornell University in 1997, and was on staff at Cornell before starting Early Winter Equine Medicine & Surgery located in Ithaca, New York. He was an FEI veterinarian and worked internationally with the United States Equestrian Team. He died in 2014.

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