Bacteria and fungi isolated from nasopharynx of horses as a reservoir of bioaerosols

BUSTOS CARLA; ETCHECOPAZ ALEJANDRO; MUÑOZ ALEJANDRA; MESPLET MARIA; GUIDA NORA

Porto De Galinhas

Congreso; 2nd International Congress on Pathogens at the Human-Animal Interface (ICOPHAI): One Health for Sustainable Development; 2013

VPH-Biotech Global Consortium

The biological particles are always present in the environment, although the number and viability change all the time, with the weather conditions, the seasons and geographical location. Bioaerosols are airborne particles, consisting of living beings, or large molecules which have been released for a living. Most of the bacteria and certain parasitic fungi are optional, so that they can live and grow in living organisms or living organic matter Streptococcus (S) equi (e) equi causes Strangles, a highly contagious infection of the upper respiratory tract of young horses and associated with lymphadenitis submandibular and retropharyngea. This bacteria is not part of the normal nasopharyngeal flora but it can persist in the nasopharynx and guttural pouches after resolution of clinical signs. Se zooepidemicus is an opportunistic pathogen of the respiratory tract and the reproductive tract of horses after virus infection, heat stress, or tissue injury and it is one of the most frequently isolated pathogens from equine. It has been reported as causative agent of Strangle-like disease. There are many fungi members of the environmental micota. Yeast like Cándida sp and multicellular fungi like Aspergillus sp can be opportunistic pathogens and can cause nasopharyngitis, infection of guttural pouches with nasal discharge and abortion like other processes caused by pyogenic bacteria. The objetive of this work was to study retrospectively bacterial and fungi isolates from healthy horses during 2004-2010. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 483 healthy horses (276 animals from fields and 207 from stables) in the Province of Buenos. By bacterial growth, the samples were cultivated on 5% (v/v) of horse blood agar plates at 37°C with CO2 enriched atmosphere for 24-48 hours. Bacteria were identified by biochemical test. All the samples were cultivated in Saboureaud medium too with 2 % glucose and 0,05 % of cloranphenycol, without cicloheximide and then subcultivated in Czapeck medium at 25-28ºC for-5 days. The fungi were identified by morphology of the colonies and the microscopic morphology with lactofenol blue. Se equi was isolated in 4 horses and Se zooepidemicus was isolated in 36 animals. Corynebacterium spp, Staphylococcus spp, Streptocuccus disgalactiae subsp. equisimilis, Bacillus sp, Actinomycetales was isolated from the samples too. Fungi growth was observed in the 100% of the samples. Aspergillus spp, Penicillium spp, Fusarium spp, Cladosporium spp, Mucor spp, Ucladium spp and Alternaria spp. It is recognized that bacteria are present in the atmosphere environments and inhalation represents a health risk, either in form of vegetative or structural compounds. Moreover antigens in fungal structures produce respiratory allergic reactions in animals and humans. The composition of the nasopharyngeal ecobiota is difference between horses and could be described as temporary and potentially pathogenic, highlighting the importance of the equine nasopharyngeal cavity as a reservoir of fungi and bacteria capable of forming bioaerosols contaminants to other animals and humans.