Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus: Epidemiological and Genomic Findings of an Emerging Pathogen in Central Italy

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (SEZ) is a major problem in equine veterinary medicine. Typically, a commensal in horses, SEZ can cause severe disease including respiratory infections, septicaemia and reproductive tract infections under certain conditions. Recent evidence suggests that humans can also develop severe disease infection through direct contact with infected animals or the consumption of contaminated unpasteurised milk and milk products. This study investigates SEZ strains isolated from nasal swabs of equidae in central Italy in 2023 to describe the epidemiology and genomic characteristics of circulating strains. A sampling plan was implemented to randomly collect nasal swabs from equid farms in the Abruzzo and Molise regions. In addition, a sampling form was designed to collect information on risk factors related to the presence of the bacterium and the potential development of respiratory disease. Relative risk was used to measure the association between the presence of SEZ in the samples and various variables. The swabs were analysed by real-time PCR and isolation. To confirm the identification and characterise the strains, the isolates were fully sequenced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using the Illumina platform. A total of 478 animals from 99 farms were sampled and 30% of the animals tested positive for SEZ (79% horses, 20% donkeys, 1% mules). Forty-five percent of the farms tested positive for SEZ. Monitoring the clonal spread of SEZ is essential to understand the ecology of this emerging zoonotic pathogen, to assess the risk, and to implement effective control measures. In addition, genomic assessments are recommended to investigate the pathogenicity of circulating strains. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the epidemiology and genomic diversity of SEZ strains isolated in central Italy.