Pathogenic Characteristics of an Infection with Canine Influenza Virus and Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus Alone or in Combination in Mice

Both Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (SEZ) and canine influenza virus (CIV) are two important pathogens causing infectious respiratory disease in dogs and are frequently codetected in respiratory secretions. However, the clinical significance of viral/bacterial coinfection remains unknown. This study investigated the pathogenic characteristics of infection with CIV and SEZ alone or in combination in mice. Our data indicated that the severity of the disease is related to the challenge order of CIV and SEZ. Coinfection of CIV and SEZ induced higher weight loss in mice than single infection, except for the VB group (viral followed by secondary bacterial infection). Compared with the concurrent or sequential infection groups of CIV and SEZ, mice in the CIV-SEZ preincubation group exhibited more obvious weight loss, higher mortality, and significantly enhanced burden of SEZ and CIV in tissues. Interestingly, viral and bacterial preincubation before coinfection caused typical pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Correspondingly, transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta was upregulated, and its canonical small mother against decapentaplegic (Smad) 2/3 signaling was noticeably induced. Further investigation indicated that the activity of the viral neuraminidase (NA) enzyme upon sialic acid was considerably increased due to the direct interaction of CIV with SEZ, which may be related to the activation of the TGF-beta signaling pathway. These findings implicate an unexpected contribution of the direct interaction between CIV and SEZ to synergistic pathogenicity.