Rhodococcus equi: Are There Differences in Clinical Appearances Around the World?

Rhodococcus equi is a gr am positive facultative intracellular pathogen that is a co mmon cause of pneumonia in foals throughout the world. In addition to pn eumonia it has been associated with extrapulmonary diseases such as abdo minal abscessation, osteomyelitis, uveitis and polysynovitis; the latter two being regarded as immune mediated reactions to the presence of R.equi at another site. The clinical disease produced by this bacteria does not appear to v ary from country to country or ind eed continent to continent. There is no reported or anecdo tal evidence to suggest that the actual clinical presentation is variable based on geographical location. […]