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              Open Access  
Copyright: The authors. This article is an open access 
article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) which permits unrestricted use, 
distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly 
cited. 
 
                              
                              
                              Review Article 
                              
                              11. 
                              
                              Canine streptococcal toxic shock syndrome 
                              associated with necrotizing fasciitis: An overview - 
                              Barkha Sharma, Mukesh Kumar Srivastava, Ashish 
                              Srivastava and Rashmi SinghVet World. 2012; 5(5): 311-319
 
                
              doi: 
              10.5455/vetworld.2012.311-319 
                
              
              
          
 
              Abstract 
 
                              
                              Canine Toxic Shock Syndrome (CSTSS) is a serious 
                              often fatal disease syndrome seen in dogs caused 
                              as a result of an infection caused by gram 
                              positive cocci of the family Streptococci. The 
                              main bacterium involved in the etiology of Canine 
                              Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome is 
                              Streptoccoccus canis, which was discovered by 
                              Deveriese in 1986 and implicated as a cause of 
                              this disease syndrome in 1996 by Miller and 
                              Prescott. The clinical findings in this syndrome 
                              are very much similar to those seen in the 
                              infamous 'Toxic Shock 'caused by staphylococcal 
                              toxins in humans, especially females. Like in 
                              humans, the reason for emergence/reemergence of 
                              Canine Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (CSTSS) 
                              is unclear and very little is known about its 
                              transmission and prevention. The disease is 
                              characterized by multi systemic organ failure and 
                              a shock like condition in seemingly healthy dog 
                              often following an injury. In absence of proper 
                              and prompt diagnosis and subsequent treatment by 
                              injectable antibiotics and aggressive shock 
                              therapy, dog often succumbs to the disease within 
                              a few hours. The dog may have some rigidity and 
                              muscle spasms or convulsions and a deep 
                              unproductive cough followed by haemorrhage from 
                              nasal and mouth along with melena. On necropsy, 
                              these dogs show severe edema of the 
                              gastrointestinal tract, congestion of multiple 
                              organs, severe pulmonary congestion and evidence 
                              of thrombo embolism. Necrotizing fasciitis is a 
                              localized form of streptococcal infection seen as 
                              extensive soft tissue sloughing and necrosis along 
                              the fascial planes. No vaccination is available so 
                              avoidance of the probable causal factors mainly 
                              participation in community events, estrus, change 
                              of environment and shipping is the only way to 
                              keep pet dogs away from this disease.  
                              
                               Keywords: 
                              Canine Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (CSTSS), 
                              Streptococcus canis, Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF), 
                              multiorgan failure 
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