<i>Salmonella enterica </i>serovar Stanley intrauterine infection  in a stillborn calf - case report

Jawor, Paulina; Stefaniak, Tadeusz; Sołtysiak, Zenon; Dzimira, Stanisław; Bednarski, Michał

doi:10.2754/avb201382040363

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2013, Vol. 82 > Issue 4 > Salmonella enterica serovar…

Acta Vet. Brno 2013, 82: 363-367

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201382040363

Salmonella enterica serovar Stanley intrauterine infection in a stillborn calf - case report

Paulina Jawor¹, Tadeusz Stefaniak¹, Zenon Sołtysiak², Stanisław Dzimira³, Michał Bednarski⁴

¹Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Immunology, Pathophysiology and Veterinary Prevention, Wroclaw, Poland
²Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinic of Diseases of Horses, Dogs and Cats, Wroclaw, Poland
³Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathology, Wroclaw, Poland
⁴Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Epizootiology and Clinic of Birds and Exotic Animals, Wroclaw, Poland

The aim of this study was to report the response to a bacterial intrauterine infection in a calf. A stillborn calf, dam’s blood and amniotic fluid were submitted for examination. Necropsy of the calf was performed and IgG₁, IgG₂, IgM, IL-6 in the calf’s serum, Il-6 in the dam’s serum, and amniotic fluid were estimated. During necropsy, fluid in pleural and peritoneal cavities stained with haemoglobin and diagonal fissures in the aortic arch endothelium were found. Salmonella enterica serovar Stanley was isolated from the spleen, lungs and abomasal fluid. Histopathological examination revealed: inflammatory infiltration and haemorrhages in lungs and small perivascular haemorrhages in the frontal cortex and near the lateral ventricles of the white matter, focal gliosis in the frontal cortex, and neuronal atrophy of the dentate gyrus with diffuse glial cells proliferation in the brain. The concentration of IgG₁in the calf’s serum was increased and IL-6 was detected in both the dam’s blood and amniotic fluid. Necropsy, bacterial culture and immunological findings in the stillborn calf confirmed the intrauterine infection with Salmonella Stanley as the cause of death. Meanwhile, neonatal diarrhoea (incidence 46%) with high mortality (54%) occurred on the same farm. From diarrhoeic calves, Salmonella Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis were isolated. Based on available literature this is the first evidence of Salmonella enterica serovar Stanley isolation from a stillborn calf.