LAIM Resident University of Pennsylvania West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States
Abstract: Background – Sepsis in goats is not well described. A better understanding of which diseases and factors are associated with bacteremia and sepsis in systemically ill goats could help improve outcome and guide antimicrobial stewardship. Hypothesis/Objectives – 1) Evaluate frequency of bacteremia in healthy and systemically ill goats; 2) Determine clinical parameters associated with a positive blood culture. Animals – 84 systemically ill and 19 healthy adult goats. Methods – Prospective clinical study. Blood cultures were collected aseptically and clinicopathological parameters, diagnosis and outcome were recorded. Groups of goats were compared based on SIRS criteria extrapolated from other species, blood culture results, outcome, and systems affected, using Student’s T test or Fisher’s exact test. Results – Ten goats (11.9%; 9 sick, 1 healthy) had positive blood cultures, yielding 11 different isolates (8 Gram-positive and 3 Gram-negative). When analyzed by disease category, 33.3% (2/6) of hepatic, 28.5% (2/7) of respiratory, 18% (2/11) of neurologic, 9% (2/21) of gastrointestinal, and 3% (1/29) of urinary cases had positive blood cultures. 47.6% (40/84) of sick goats fit SIRS criteria. Half of the goats with positive blood cultures met SIRS criteria, but SIRS was not associated with a positive blood culture (p=0.7). Goats with a positive blood culture had higher rectal temperatures than those that did not have positive blood cultures (102.9±0.3F vs 101.6±0.2F; p=0.01). Conclusion and Clinical Importance – In this cohort of adult goats, bacteremia was documented infrequently. Blood cultures might be a useful adjunctive diagnostic in goats with hepatic or pulmonary disease.
