Ecolle vétérinaires de Lyon and Toulouse
Revue de Médecine Vétérinaire 2001, 152:11
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in human patients remains a controversial and perplexing condition with emerging zoonotic aspects.
Recent advances in human medicine seem to indicate a bacterial etiology and the condition has already been described in horses, dogs, cats and birds of prey in association with micrococci-like organisms in the blood and Staph-positive blood cultures.
To evaluate the possibility of an underlying chronic bacterial infection, seven dogs diagnosed with CFS were submitted to rapid blood cultures and fresh blood smears investigations.
Blood cultures proved Staph-positive and the isolates were identified as S. epidermidis (1), S. intermedius (2), S. cohnii (1), S. chromogenes (2) and S. lugdunensis (1).
The presence of micrococci-like organisms in the blood was a constant observation in these subjects, in association with fatigue/pain-related symptoms and biochemical abnormalities (high creatine kinase levels) suggestive of an underlying neuro-muscular dysfunction.
Following treatment with a low dosage arsenical drug (thiacetarsamide sodium, Caparsolate, iv., 0.1 ml/kg/day, for 2 days) all patients experienced complete lasting remission.
In all cases, micrococci had disappeared from the blood at post-treatment controls made 10-30 days later.
The outcome, compared with those of 4 healthy animals in the control group, were strongly suggestive of a Staphylococcus spp. bacteremia related to chronic fatigue/pain symptoms.
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Reprinted with Permission of Walter Tarello
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