Sepse por Plesiomonas shigelloides, Citrobacter freundii E Aeromonas jandaei em Iguana-verde (Iguana iguana)

Abstract

Iguanas are arboreal lizards that live in the Americas, and the Iguana iguana is the most common species found in Brazil, distributed from the Amazon to the Caatinga. We report the pathological, microbiological and proteomic aspects of a case of sepsis by Plesiomonas shigelloides, Citrobacter freundii and Aeromonas jandaei in a green iguana (Iguana iguana), diagnosed in Brejo Paraibano. The animal was a free-living adult female. The animal was initially seen at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Paraíba (HUV-UFPB) with a history of trampling trauma and flaccid paralysis of the pelvic limbs and tail. The patient was submitted to clinical examination and complementary radiography and urinalysis. Radiography showed a distended colon with a more radiopaque area suggestive of fecaloma. She was submitted to enterotomy, and a fecaloma was seen in the rectal portion and a hemorrhagic appearance of the urinary bladder with adherence to the duodenal portion. The iguana died two weeks after clinical care and was referred for necropsy. During the necropsy, materials were collected and sent for microbiological isolation and histopathological analysis. Macroscopically, the lesions were located mainly in skeletal and cardiac muscles, characterized by a pale to yellowish area focally extensive in the skeletal muscles of the left pelvic limb and discrete foci of hemorrhage in the contralateral limb. In the apex of the heart, there were multifocal to coalescing, yellowish-white punctate areas on the epicardial surface. On sectioning, a focally extensive, brownish-yellow area of irregular surface was seen in the myocardium. In addition to intestinal injury, in which multifocal yellowish- white, irregular, transmural areas were observed in the duodenum. Histopathological examination showed moderate to severe multifocal necrotizing skeletal and cardiac myositis associated with a mild to moderate inflammatory infiltrate composed predominantly of heterophils and macrophages. In the gastric mucosa there was thrombosis formation associated with extensive areas of necrosis and hemorrhage. In intestine, stomach, kidney, and liver there were myriads of basophilic bacillary structures corresponding to bacterial aggregates. The diagnosis of sepsis by Plesiomonas Shigelloides, Citrobacter freundii and Aeromonas jandaei was made by mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) associated with the anatomopathological and microbiological findings observed in this case. The association of these agents requires wild animal veterinarians to pay more attention to the diagnosis of bacterial co infections that affect free-living animals and make therapy more difficult by worsening the clinical picture and prognosis of the patient.