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In the paper Staphylococcus pseudintermedius infection Pyometra bij een vos (Vulpes vulpes) veroorzaakt door een infectie met Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; Dierengezondheidszorg Vlaan in Red Foxesderen (DGZ), Industrielaan 29, B-8820 Torhout Stefan.Roels@sciensano.be, submitted by N. Caliskan, A. Vandekerckhove, E. Rolly, E. Forrez, S. Roels, it is noted that:
"An adult female fox found dead in a field in Flanders (Belgium) was brought in for autopsy. The uterus was remarkably enlarged with dilation of the right horn tip and dilations of the myometrium of the left horn. The lumen of the uterus was filled with greenish-yellow pasty contents. Bacteriological examination of these contents resulted in a pure culture of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.
"The diagnosis of pyometra caused by S. pseudintermedius was made. Pyometra in wild canids has rarely been described. It is assumed that the cause of death is similar to that in dogs, namely septic shock. According to the authors, this is the first described case of closed pyometra with isolation of S. pseudointermedius in an adult fox".
Before it was officially suppressed, the Bristol Fox Deaths Project founas d a number of never before noted health issues with foxes. Pyometra was not one of them although I suspected a case in the Midlands in 2021 may have been. Others we can only look back on and wonder whether they were pyometra cases. No study similar to that in Bristol had ever been undertaken in the UK -a dead fox was a dead fox and held no interest for vets as it was after all a wild animal with no one footing the bill for a necropsy.
Looking back at my notes it is possible that there were other cases but not sub mitted for necropsy as no one was available to collect.
It now appears, if the vet is correct, that we have such a case from Bristol. Fox health and welfare is still in early stages but there is hope!
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