Streptococcus Dysgalactiae Cellulitis and Toxic Shock-Like Syndrome in a Brown Swiss Cow

Abstract

An adult Brown Swiss cow was presented to the Large Animal Hospital of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vétérinaire de l'Université de Montréal due to a postpartum downer cow syndrome. The animal had severe and generalized swelling of all 4 limbs and was in shock, as demonstrated by hypotension, dehydration, hypothermia, altered mental status, and abnormal blood parameters. It died rapidly, and necropsy revealed a generalized, severe cellulitis caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae, bronchopneumonia, and lesions of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) in the kidneys. The portal of entry of the bacteria in the subcutaneous tissue was not found, as there was no history of skin trauma or mastitis. The pure growth of large quantities of an invasive Streptococcus species, associated with hypotension, coagulopathy, and renal failure, are supportive of streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome in a bovine.