First isolation of Klebsiella variicola from a horse pleural effusion

Background: Respiratory diseases are the second most common cause of illnesses in horses, their etiology can be viral, bacterial, immune-mediated, or mechanical (Racklyeft and Love DN, Aust Vet J 78:549–59, 2000; Austin et al., J Am Vet Med Assoc 207:325–328, 1995; Arroyo et al., J Vet Intern Med 31:894–900, 2017). Klebsiella variicola is a Gram-negative bacterium that was initially identified as an endophyte in soil and plants such as bananas, rice, sugar cane and maize but recent studies have identified this microorganism as an emerging pathogen in humans (Rodríguez-Medina et al., Emerg Microbes Infect 8:973–988, 2019; Fontana et al., J Clin Microbiol 57:e00825–18, 2019; Rosenblueth et al., Syst Appl Microbiol 27:27–35, 2004). This paper describes, for the first time to our knowledge, the isolation of K. variicola from pleural effusion in a male adult horse. Case presentation: 17-years Italian Saddle Horse with respiratory distress and fever was admitted to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna. At home, the patient had undergone antibiotic therapy without clinical improvement. Vital signs on admission revealed an increased respiratory rate, tachycardia, pyrexia and weight loss. The animal was submitted for collateral examination including thoracic radiology and ultrasound and thoracoscopy that showed bilateral pleural effusion associated with multifocal pulmonary atelectasis. During the thoracoscopic examination, that confirmed the presence of a seropurulent pleural effusion, a sample of pleural fluid was collected and Gram-negative bacteria were isolated and subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) that allowed the identification of K. variicola. The isolate was sensitive to amikacin, cefazolin, enrofloxacin, marbofloxacin, tetracycline, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole;the horse was treated with Oxytetracycline and amikacin. Despite a general health improvement of the subject, the pleural effusion did not resolve after treatment. Conclusions: This paper describes, for the first time, the isolation of K. variicola in a horse with respiratory disease. The misidentification between K. variicola and K. pneumoniae has caused unawareness about significant aspects of this bacterial species. In fact, even though in animals the role of this bacterium is not clear, in humans it has been recognized as an emerging pathogen. The use of new methods for bacterial identification will probably lead to the isolation of a greater number of strains which will have to be studied to acquire knowledge that will be useful to clarify the clinical importance and relevance of K. variicola also in animals.