Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Isolation of Moraxella spp. from horses with conjunctivitis in Southern Brazil

  • Veterinary Microbiology – Short Communication
  • Published:
Brazilian Journal of Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) is the most frequent ocular disease in livestock worldwide and is primarily caused by Moraxella bovis, M. ovis, and/or M. bovoculi. The economic impact of IKC is mainly due to ocular damage, which leads to weight loss, management difficulties, pain and discomfort, and cost of treatments. In horses, limited information is available on the association of Moraxella spp. with keratoconjunctivitis. The present report describes two cases of equine keratoconjunctivitis caused by members of the genus Moraxella. Both animals presented with lacrimation, conjunctivitis, photophobia, mucoid or purulent secretions, blepharitis, and conjunctival hyperemia. The diagnosis of IKC was based on the epidemiological and clinical findings; the etiological agent was identified through bacteriological (culture and biochemistry assays) and molecular testing (PCR and nucleotide sequencing). Our study reports the isolation of Moraxella bovoculi (SBP 88/19) and a putative new species/mutant of Moraxella (SBP 39/19) recovered from ocular secretions in horses. Thus, we suggest the inclusion of Moraxella spp. infection in the differential diagnosis of conjunctivitis in horses in Southern Brazil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  1. Postma GC, Carfagnini JC, Minatel L (2008) Moraxella bovis pathogenicity: an update. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 31:449–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cimid.2008.04.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Conceição FR, Turnes CG (2003) Moraxella bovis: influência das características genotípicas e fenotípicas no controle da Ceratoconjuntivite Infecciosa Bovina. Cienc Rural 33(4):778–787. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-84782003000400033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Gil-Turnes C (2007) Ceratoconjuntivite bovina infecciosa. In: Riet-Correa F et al. Doença de ruminantes e equinos, 3rd edn. Palloti, Santa Maria, pp 267–278

  4. Angelos JA, Spinks PQ, Ball LM, George LW (2007) Moraxella bovoculi sp. isolated from calves with infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57:789–795. https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.64333-0

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hughes DE, Pugh GW (1970) Isolation and description of a Moraxella from horses with conjunctivitis. Am J Vet Res 31:457–459

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Huntington PJ, Coloe PJ, Bryden JD, Macdonald F (1987) Isolation of a Moraxella sp. from horses with conjunctivitis. Aust Vet J 64:118–119

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Maggs DJ (2008) Conjunctiva. In: Maggs DJ, Miller PE, Ofri R (ed) Slatter’s Fundamentals of Veterinary Ophthalmology, 4th edn. W.B. Saunders pp 135-150

  8. Liu H, Yan J, Yutian W, Qi Y, Zhao L, Yan R, He H (2014) Isolation of Moraxella bovoculi from racehorses with keratoconjunctivitis. J Vet Diagn Invest 26(4):585–587. https://doi.org/10.1177/1040638714535601

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Teixeira LM, Merquior VLC (2014) The Family Moraxellaceae. In: Rosenberg E, DeLong EF, Lory S, Stackebrandt E, Thompson F (eds) The Prokaryotes, 4th edn, Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38922-1_245

  10. Markey BK, Leonard FC, Archambault M, Cullinane A, Maguire D (2013) Clinical Veterinary Microbiology. Elsevier, Edinburgh

    Google Scholar 

  11. Carmo PMS, Vargas AC, Rissi DR, Oliveira-Filho JC, Pierezan F, Lucena RB, Leivas Leite FL, Barros CSL (2011) Surto de ceraconjuntivite infecciosa bovina e hemoncose causando mortalidade em bezerros. Pesqui Vet Bras 31(5):374–378. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-736X2011000500002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. O’Connor AM, Shen HG, Wang C, Opriessnig T (2012) Descriptive epidemiology of Moraxella bovis, Moraxella bovoculi and Moraxella ovis in beef calves with naturally occurring infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (pinkeye). Vet Microbiol 155:374–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2011.09.011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Jayappa HG, Lehr C (1986) Pathogenicity and immunogenicity of piliated and nonpiliated phases of Moraxella bovis in calves. Am J Vet Res 47(10):2217–2221

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Angelos JA, Ball LM, Byrne BA (2011) Minimum inhibitory concentrations of selected antimicrobial agents for Moraxella bovoculi associated with infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. J Vet Diagn Invest 23:552–555. https://doi.org/10.1177/1040638711404154

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. CLSI (2017) Methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of infrequently isolated or fastidious bacteria isolated from animals. 1st ed. CLSI supplement VET06. Wayne: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute

  16. Dickey AM, Schuller G, Loy JD, Clawson ML (2018) Whole genome sequencing of Moraxella bovoculi reveals high genetic diversity and evidence for interspecies recombination at multiple loci. PLoS One 13(12):e0209113. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209113

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Lane DJ (1991) 16S/23S rRNA sequencing. In: Stackebrandt E, Goodfellow M (eds) Nucleic acid techniques in bacterial systematics. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp 115–175

    Google Scholar 

  18. Miller CS, Handley KM, Wrighton KC, Frischkorn KR, Thomas BC et al (2013) Short-Read Assembly of Full-Length 16S Amplicons Reveals Bacterial Diversity in Subsurface Sediments. PLoS ONE 8(2):e56018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056018

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Farias LD, Maboni G, Matter LB, Scherer CF, Libardoni F, de Vargas AC (2015) Phylogenetic analysis and genetic diversity of 3′ region of rtxA gene from geographically diverse strains of Moraxella bovis, Moraxella bovoculi and Moraxella ovis. Vet Microbiol 178:283–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.05.025

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Kumar S, Stecher G, Li M, Knyaz C, Tamura K (2018) MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across computing platforms. Mol Biol Evol 35:1547–1549. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Hille M, Dickey A, Robbins K, Clawson ML, Loy JD (2020) Rapid differentiation of Moraxella bovoculi genotypes 1 and 2 using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry profiles. J Microbiol Methods 173:105942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2020.105942

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Robbins KJ, Dickey AM, Clawson ML, Loy JD (2018) Application and evaluation of the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry method to identify Moraxella bovoculi and Moraxella bovis isolates from cattle. J Vet Diagn Invest 30(5):739–742. https://doi.org/10.1177/1040638718789725

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Plummer CE, Colitz CMH, Kuonen V (2014) Ocular Infections. In: Sellon DC, Long MT (eds) Equine Infectious Diseases, 2nd edn. Saunders, W.B, pp 109–118

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Whitley RD, Moore CP (1984) Microbiology of the equine eye in health and disease. Vet Clin North Am Large Anim Pract 6(3):451–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0196-9846(17)30003-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Dietrich UM (2007) Ophthalmic Examination and Diagnostics. Gellat KN. Veterinary Ophthalmology, Iowa, pp 507–519

    Google Scholar 

  26. Wilcox MDP (2013) Characterization of the normal microbiota of the ocular surface. Exp Eye Res 117:99–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exer.2013.06.003

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Cogen AL, Nizet V, Gallo RL (2008) Skin microbiota: a source of disease or defense? Br J Dermatol 158(3):442–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08437.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Dr. John Angelos (Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, CA, USA) and Dr. Grazieli Maboni (University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England) for their generous assistance, valuable comments, and indispensable support regarding data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima, 1000, Santa Maria, RS, 97105-900, Brazil

    M. G. Seeger

  2. Serviço de Oftalmologia Veterinária, Hospital Veterinária Universitário (HVU), Departamento de Grandes Animais, Centro de Ciências Rurais (CCR), UFSM, Av. Roraima, 1000, Santa Maria, RS, 97105-900, Brazil

    L. F. D. Corrêa

  3. California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, 620 W. Health Sciences Drive, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    K. A. Clothier

  4. School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 4040 East Campus Loop N., Lincoln, NE, 68583-0907, USA

    J. D. Loy

  5. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva (DMVP), Centro de Ciências Rurais (CCR), UFSM, Av. Roraima, 1000, Santa Maria, RS, 97105-900, Brazil

    J. F. Cargnelutti

Authors
  1. M. G. Seeger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. F. D. Corrêa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. A. Clothier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. D. Loy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. F. Cargnelutti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.G. Seeger: conceptualization, methodology, resources, writing — original draft.

L.F.D. Corrêa: conceptualization, resources, writing — review and editing.

J.F. Cargnelutti: conceptualization, methodology, resources, writing — review and editing.

K.A. Clothier: methodology, resources, review and editing.

J. D. Loy: methodology, resources, review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. F. Cargnelutti.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Responsible Editor: Miliane Moreira Soares de Souza

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Seeger, M.G., Corrêa, L.F.D., Clothier, K.A. et al. Isolation of Moraxella spp. from horses with conjunctivitis in Southern Brazil. Braz J Microbiol 52, 1643–1648 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00507-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00507-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation