Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium isolated from the urine of a dog undergoing treatment for immune-mediated polyarthritis.

INTRODUCTION

In people, Salmonella is a common agent of gastroenteritis, but it can also cause extraintestinal disease such as urinary tract infections. In addition, Salmonella is often linked to the post-infection development of reactive arthritis. In canines, cases that document extraintestinal Salmonella infections or diseases similar to reactive arthritis have not been thoroughly described.

CASE PRESENTATION: A case of a 5-year-old German shepherd dog with Salmonella bacteriuria during treatment for immune-mediated polyarthritis (IMPA) is described. The patient first suffered from a 3 month period of diarrhoea and presented for evaluation of a 2 month history of shifting-leg lameness. A diagnosis of IMPA was made based on cytological examination and negative synovial fluid culture. Treatment with immunosuppressive doses of prednisone lead to clinical resolution of lameness, but on a recheck abnormal urine was noted. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium was isolated using standard culture methods. The patient was treated with enrofloxacin to control the bacteriuria.

CONCLUSION

This case report is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to describe Salmonella bacteriuria in a dog and suggests that Salmonella infection may be a potential inciting factor for IMPA.