engleski

Streptococcus suis infection - a problem common to human and veterinary medicine

Streptococcus suis causes meningitis, arthritis, septicemia and bronchopneumonia in pigs. In Croatia, S. suis had been rarely isolated from pigs until 1995, when the virus of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (the genus Arterivirus) was imported to the Croatian pig breeding. This Arterivirus greatly increases pig susceptibility to Streptococcus suis infection, thus the bacterium has recently been ever more frequently isolated, along with the bacterium P. multocida, from the lungs of pigs that died from pneumonia. The rate of Streptococcus suis isolates in meningitis, arthritis and septicemia in piglets has also increased. On the other hand, Streptococcus suis also causes infection in humans, which generally manifests with purulent meningitis which may result in permanent hearing loss and ataxia, whereas reports on septic shock and bacteriemia are less common. High risk groups include butchers, slaughterhouse workers and farmers, however, cases of bacteremia have also been recorded among hunters cutting wild boar meat. In Croatian Veterinary Institute routine identification of Streptococcus suis isolates is performed by determination of amylase production and rapid VP reaction as described elsewhere (Devriese et al., 1991). During the last two years, 50 randomly chosen Streptococcus suis isolates from swine were biochemically tested (API rapid ID 32 strep ; bioMérieux, France) at the Croatian Veterinary Institute for type determination. Fourteen isolates belonged to type 1, and 36 isolates to type 2. Although type 2 Streptococcus suis has been more frequently reported as a causative agent of zoonoses, human infections with type 1 Streptococcus suis have been recorded in Croatia (Pandak et al, 2002). The susceptibility of the isolates was assessed by the disk diffusion method according to the NCCLS recomendation, which revealed 80% of the isolates to be sensitive to penicillin, 94% to ampicillin and cefotaxime, and 96% to amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. All strains were resistant to streptomycin. Fourteen per cent of the isolates were sensitive to oxytetracycline, 16% to neomycin, 26% to gentamicin, 45% to sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim, and 71% to enrofloxacin.

Streptococcus suis; infection

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