Listeria monocytogenes in horses in Iceland

• Published in: Veterinary Record
• Main Authors: Gudmundsdottir, K. B., Svansson, V., Gunnarsson, E., Sigurdarson, S., Aalbæk, B.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2004
• Subjects: Papers & Articles; Iceland
• Online Access: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/155/15/456; https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.155.15.456

Twenty isolates of Listeria monocytogenes associated with five confirmed and four suspected incidents oflisteriosis in horses in Iceland were characterised by serotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis andribotyping. Semiquantitative estimates of the numbers of L monocytogenes were made on faeces fromhorses with clinical signs of listeriosis and on grass silage fed to them. Large numbers of L monocytogeneswere often found in the faeces of horses with severe signs of disease. The 20 isolates could be divided intosix genotypes, each incident involving only one genotype. One serovar 1/2a genotype was associated withthree confirmed incidents of listeriosis in 1991, 1993 and 1997. In one incident, the same genotype wasisolated from the organs of a horse with listeriosis and from the spoiled grass silage fed to it.