Pathogenicity of Aeromonas hydrophila, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis to brown tree frogs (Litoria ewingii).

Bacterial dermatosepticemia, a systemic infectious bacterial disease of frogs, can be caused by several opportunistic gram-negative bacterial species including Aeromonas hydrophila, Chryseobacterium indologenes, Chryseobacterium meningosepticum, Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia liquifaciens. Here we determined the pathogenicity of 3 bacterial species (Aeromonas hydrophila, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis) associated with an outbreak of fatal dermatosepticemia in New Zealand Litoria ewingii frogs. A bath challenge method was used to expose test frogs to individual bacterial species (2 x 10(7) cfu/mL in pond water); control frogs were exposed to uninfected pond water. None of the control frogs or those exposed to A. hydrophila or P. mirabilis showed any morbidity or mortality. Morbidity and mortality was 40% among frogs exposed to K. pneumonia, and the organism was reisolated from the hearts, spleens, and livers of affected animals.