Staphylococcus spp.
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- Gram positive cocci
- Can cause haemorrhagic disease by secondary thrombocytopenic disease.
- May infect joints of sheep or become complication of tick-borne fever
Staphylococcus hyicus
- Pigs - greasy pig disease
- Exudative epidermitis due to Staphylococcus hyicus is a worldwide problem in piglets.
- The organism can often be isolated from the mucosa and skin of healthy adult pigs, and can persist in the environment for long periods.
- Disease occurs only in young piglets up to about 35 days of age.
- Passive transfer of antibodies from immune sows and development of immunity with age appear to adequately protect against disease.
- Piglets from non-immune sows are predisposed.
- Skin trauma, such as due to fighting, allowing entry of infective organisms is also considered a risk factor in this disease.
Pathology
Pathogenesis
- Staphylococcus hyicus produces an exfoliative toxin of approximately 30 kDa that causes separation of cells in the upper stratum spinosum resulting in rapid intraepidermal spread of organisms.
- Death of affected piglets is common and is attributed to dehydration, septicemia, or both.
- This porcine disorder has been likened to “scalded skin syndrome” in human neonates, due to skin infection by exfoliative toxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus.
Differential diagnosis
- mange (Sarcoptes scabiei var. suis)
- swine parakeratosis (zinc and essential fatty acid deficiency)
- porcine juvenile pustular psoriasiform dermatitis (collarettes or rings typically on the ventrum of young pigs)
- dermatosis vegetans (associated with a giant cell pneumonia)
- dermatophytosis (most commonly Microsporum nanum)
Staphylococcus aureus
- May cause gastroenteritis in small animals.