Vertebral osteomyelitis and meningomyelitis caused by Pasteurella canis in a dog — Clinicopathological case report

Abstract

A clinicopathological case study of vertebral osteomyelitis caused by Pasteurella canis in a 2.5-year-old male Jack Russell Terrier is presented. The case was characterised by a chronic course with signs of spinal pain and acute paraplegia. The diagnosis was established by radiography, myelography, post-myelographic CT examination, and laboratory tests including routine blood work and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytology, and confirmed by postmortem pathological and microbiological examinations. Diagnostic imaging showed severe osteolysis, ventral spondylosis and spinal cord compression at the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. The blood tests revealed mild leukocytosis and anaemia, while CSF cytology showed lymphocytic and mononuclear pleocytosis. Necropsy demonstrated severe osteomyelitis and meningomyelitis, but the source of infection could not be established. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first description of canine vertebral osteomyelitis caused by this organism.