Genome-confirmed Pluralibacter gergoviae urinary tract infection in a companion animal in Peru.

BACKGROUND

Urinary tract infections are common in dogs and are most frequently caused by Enterobacterales such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The involvement of uncommon Enterobacterales with the capacity to acquire antimicrobial resistance is increasingly recognized within a One Health framework.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 3-y-old intact female mixed-breed dog presented with haematuria, lethargy, and anorexia. Urinalysis and bacterial culture confirmed a urinary tract infection. The isolate was initially misidentified as K. pneumoniae by routine biochemical methods, but whole-genome sequencing enabled its definitive identification as Pluralibacter gergoviae, a species previously reported mainly as an environmental and industrial contaminant and as an opportunistic human pathogen.

RESULTS

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed susceptibility to all tested agents except penicillin. Whole-genome sequencing revealed no acquired antimicrobial resistance genes, and phylogenomic analysis clustered the canine isolate with human and environmental P. gergoviae strains from different geographic regions.

CONCLUSIONS

This genome-confirmed canine infection expands the known host range of P. gergoviae and highlights the role of molecular diagnostics in detecting atypical uropathogens. The phylogenomic relatedness to human and environmental strains underscores the importance of One Health-oriented genomic surveillance of opportunistic Enterobacterales across human and animal settings.