Enterococcus faecium septicemia in a dog: Clinical features and molecular screening of virulence genes of Enterococcus

Abstract

A one-year-old Golden Retriever male dog manifested multi-systemic inflammation with a marked increment of plasma D-dimer. Enterococcus spp. was identified from hemoculture and it showed multidrug resistance (MDR), including amikacin, cephazolin, ceftriaxone, clindamycin, imipenem, penicillin G and sulfa-trimethoprim. Pure Enterococcus colonies were identified for species-specific DNA by PCR amplification and sequencing. It was 100% identical with the Enterococcus faecium strains in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. Molecular screening of virulence genes of the isolated E. faecium strain exhibited four of nine genes including gelatinase (gelE), cell wall adhesion (efaAfm), second collagen adhesin (scm) and adhesin of collagen of E. faecium (acm). Although Ehrlichia canis and Babesia canis vogeli were also detected, the MDR E. faecium carrying virulence genes was important for aggravating the disease severity. The present study highlights clinical features and virulence genes associated with E. faecium septicemia in a dog.