BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Zoological Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1552499
This article is part of the Research TopicSurveillance and Control of Wildlife Diseases: Integrating Ecology, Pathology, and Public HealthView all 3 articles
Multidrug-Resistant Proteus mirabilis in a Critically Endangered Malayan Pangolin: Clinical and Genomic Insights
Provisionally accepted
- 1South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, China
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Proteus mirabilis, an important zoonotic opportunistic pathogen, is widely found in nature and the intestinal tracts of animals, which can cause diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and other symptoms in domestic animals including sheep, pigs, cattle and chickens. In this study, necropsy of a deceased critically endangered Malayan pangolin revealed lobar pneumonia in the lungs and hepatocyte necrosis with hepatic cord disintegration in the liver. A strain of Proteus mirabilis (PM2022) was isolated from the affected lungs and liver. This bacterium exhibited multidrug resistance, being susceptible only to cefoxitin and amikacin.Whole-genome sequencing identified 26 antibiotic resistance genes, including CTX-M-65, FosA3, which mediate resistance to five classes of antibiotics, such as penicillins and quinolones. Additionally, 20 virulence factors (including the T6SS secretion system, hemolysins HpmA/B, among others) were detected. Mouse experiments confirmed its high pathogenicity (LD50 = 1.45 × 10 9 CFU/mL). Based on experimental and genomic testing results, the initial symptoms of Proteus mirabilis infection in pangolins manifest in the lungs, liver, and intestines, and the use of penicillins and quinolones should be avoided during treatment. This study offers clinical guidance for diagnosing and treating P. mirabilis infections in pangolins, informing evidence-based antimicrobial strategies.
Keywords: Proteus mirabilis, Malayan pangolin, antibiotic resistance, pathogenicity, multidrug resistance
Received: 28 Dec 2024; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Wang, Wang, An, Liu, Yan and Hua. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Haikuo Yan, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Yan Hua, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, China
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