A male Holstein fetus was aborted at the age of 158 days on a dairy farm in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The fetus was 40 cm in length and weighed 3 kg. The fetus was connected with the placenta by the umbilical cord.A postmortem examination revealed gelatinous atrophy in the subcutaneous connective tissue and fetal membranes. Moreover, bloody ascites, pleural effusion, and capsula cordis effusion were observed. Histologically, inflammatory neutrophils and macrophages were present in the placenta. Numerous Gram-positive cocci were observed in the placenta and the fetal multiple organs, including the lungs. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the bacteria isolated was nearly identical to the sequence of
S. pluranimalium. In addition to these observations, negative results for the detection of pathogens generally associated with bovine abortion indicate the involvement of
S. pluranimalium in the case. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation of
S.pluranimalium from a bovine abortion case in Japan.
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