Short communication: Streptococcus canis is able to establish a persistent udder infection in a dairy herd

Bovine mastitis caused by Streptococcus canis is relatively rare. Consequently, many epidemiologic aspects of the infection, including factors that mediate crossing of host species barriers by the pathogen, infectiousness of the microorganism to the mammary gland, and the course of the disease within a herd, are still not elucidated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to describe results of a 15-mo observation of subclinical Strep. canis mastitis on a dairy farm housing 76 lactating Holstein-Friesian cows. Upon 3 visits to the farm during a period between April 2013 and June 2014, Strep. canis was cultured from milk samples of 17 (22.4% of the herd), 7 (9.6%), and 8 (11.3%) cows, respectively. The isolates obtained were characterized phenotypically by means of the API Strep identification kit (bioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France), as well as genetically by using random amplified polymorphic DNA and macrorestriction analysis of the chromosomal DNA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. All strains displayed the same biochemical features, and the molecular methods revealed that the isolates belonged to a single clone or were very closely related. Results of the study indicate that Strep. canis is capable of causing intramammary infections of long duration, behaving in a contagious manner. Because a persistently infected cow may serve as the source of Strep. canis infection for other animals, effective control of this type of udder infection within a herd may require similar measures to those adopted in Streptococcus agalactiae eradication programs.