Plesiomonas shigelloides ? en ovanlig orsak till diarré hos katt?
Plesiomonas shigelloides is a gram-negative, oxidase-positive rodshaped bacterium of the family Enterobacteriaceae. P. shigelloides is most frequently isolated in tropical and subtropical areas, but has also been isolated in colder areas for instance in Sweden. The primary natural habitat of the bacterium is fresh water and indirectly waterliving animals, but the bacterium can also be recovered from humans, mammals (of which cats are over-represented), birds, insects and poikilothermic animals. P. shigelloides is an opportunistic bacterium and reports about its role as a human pathogen is increasing.
There are only a few reports on P. shigelloides as an enteric pathogen among animals. In my study, P. shigelloides was demonstrated in one out of five cats with diarrhea. On the other hand, plesiomonads were not found in the twenty samples from the healthy cats. Similar results were obtained from the ongoing study on P. shigelloides, as a possible cause of diarrhea in cats in Sweden. In that study P. shigelloides was demonstrated in three out of seven cats with diarrhea, but plesiomonads were not found in the eighteen samples from the healthy cats. Thus, P. shigelloides could be demonstrated in four out of twelve examined cats with diarrhea, but not in the thirty-eight samples from the healthy cats.
In conclusion, our investigation shows that P. shigelloides can occur in cats suffering with diarrhea in Sweden. However, complementary studies are necessary to investigate P. shigelloides role as an enteric pathogen among domestic animals. It would also be interesting to investigate if P. shigelloides is a zoonotic enteric pathogen.