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Title: TYPING OF PASTEURELLA MULTOCIDA FROM HAEMORRHAGIC SEPTICAEMIA IN DANISH FALLOW DEER (DAMA DAMA)

Author
item AALBAEK, BENT - ROYAL VET. UNIV., DENMARK
item ERIKSEN, LIS - ROYAL VET. UNIV., DENMARK
item Rimler, Richard - Rick
item LEIFSSON, PALL - ROYAL VET. UNIV., DENMARK
item BASSE, AXEL - ROYAL VET. UNIV., DENMARK
item CHRISTIANSEN, TORBEN - JAGERSBORG, DENMARK
item ERIKSEN, ERIK - ZOOLOG. GARDEN, DENMARK

Submitted to: Acta Pathologica Microbiologica Immunologica Scandinavia APMIS
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/26/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Pasteurella multocida serotype B:3,4 has been shown to cause hemorrhagic septicemia (HS), a highly acute and fatal disease in cattle, bison, deer, and elk. This study describes molecular epidemiological studies on an outbreak of HS that occurred in fallow deer from a national park in Denmark. Genetic characterization of Pasteurella multocida isolated from the outbreak indicated that a specific strain was the cause and that deer not showing clinical signs of disease were carriers of the bacteria. The strain was unrelated to a strain that caused a similar outbreak in fallow deer in England. This is the first report of an epidemiological survey of HS in deer.

Technical Abstract: Isolates of Pasteurella multocida ssp. multocida (n=31) isolated from a Danish population of fallow deer which succumbed to haemorrhagic septicemia during 1992-1993 and isolates from the palatine tonsils of apparently healthy fallow deer from the same area (n=6) were typed and compare to P. multocida from other sources. Plasmids were not observed in the fallow deer strains, and one unique pattern was observed by ribotyping using HindIII and by pulsed field gel eletrophoresis using SalI as restriction endonucleases. All Danish fallow deer isolates belonged to serotype B:3,4. On restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) using HhaI, all strains had a profile 033 identical to that of a fallow deer isolate from the United Kingdom (profile 0033). On REA using HpaII, the Danish fallow deer isolates had a unique profile designated 0062, which differed slightly from that of a fallow deer isolate from the United Kingdom. Pasteurella multocida from other animal species were genotypically different from the fallow deer isolates. It is concluded that a specific clone of Pasteurella multocida was responsible for the outbreak of HS among Danish fallow deer. A carrier rate of 27% was demonstrated among apparently normal animals from the same population.