Clinical characterization of experimental infection with Erysipelothrix piscisicarius in pigs

• Grant number: 24/07118-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2024
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Luís Guilherme de Oliveira
• Grantee: Giovana da Silva Nogueira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Erysipelothrix is a genus of gram-positive bacteria, known to be etiological agents of swine erysipelas, a disease that affects several species with a worldwide distribution. E. rhusiopathiae is the most important species for swine farming, from an economic and health point of view, as in addition to causing erysipelas, it also has zoonotic potential. The disease can present in three forms in the animal, which can be acute, subacute, and chronic and infected animals can shed the bacteria through oronasal secretions, feces and urine and the infection can occur through the ingestion of contaminated food and water and through skin lesions. On the other hand, the bacterium E.piscisicarius is the pathogen responsible for causing erysipelas in marine animals, however, it was recently isolated from pigs in the field, from animals from a commercial farm that presented lesions suggestive of erysipelas. Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate and characterize the course of the disease in the clinical phase of infection of this new species in pigs through experimental infection with E. piscisicarius. For this, fourteen male pigs, 70 days old and free of E. piscisicarius, will be divided into two experimental groups: G1: 10 animals challenged with 108 CFU/mL of E. piscisicarius; and G2: 4 animals inoculated with culture broth at 70 days (negative control). The animals will be clinically evaluated by measuring rectal temperature, diameter of the lesion at the inoculation site, disseminated lesions, diarrhea, mucosal color and body weight gain. Blood, feces, and skin samples will also be collected for isolation and microbiological cultivation on blood agar. Furthermore, a blood count will also be done to count the blood components. The collected data will be submitted to the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and, if normality is observed, it will be subjected to the Tukey test (p>0.05). And if the data are non-normal, they will be subjected to the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test and the Dunn test. Finally, the variables will be subjected to the Pearson or Spearman correlation test.