Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a cat with Klebsiella spp. infection.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome of adrenocortical failure in a cat with Klebsiella spp. infection. CASE SUMMARY: A 12-year-old male neutered domestic short-haired cat was referred for respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. The cat remained comatose despite successful weaning from the ventilator and developed a Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia. On day 4 of hospitalization, the cat acutely deteriorated with profound hypotension, azotemia, and hyperkalemia, which rapidly progressed to cardiac arrest. Necropsy findings revealed massive adrenal hemorrhage and intralesional bacteria, termed Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome. Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome was suspected to have been the cause of acquired adrenocortical insufficiency and sudden death of the cat. NEW OR UNIQUE INFORMATION: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of sepsis causing Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a veterinary species.

A case report of spontaneous staphylococcal meningitis in a cynomolgus monkey.

This report describes a suppurative meningitis in a young cynomolgus. The animal had neutrophil aggregation in the subarachnoid space and hemorrhage in bilateral adrenal glands. Staphylococcus was identified by FISH in brain. To our knowledge, this is the first case of staphylococcal meningitis with Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a cynomolgus monkey.

Spontaneous Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a gang-housed baboon.

Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome can cause acute death in the baboon without specific signs. Furthermore, this syndrome could result from stress-related intestinal permeability changes that allow macromolecules and/or microbiological entities to enter the systemic circulation. The resulting sepsis could cause adrenocortical insufficiency, hypotension and shock leading to death.