Detection and quantification of 14 Campylobacter species in pet dogs reveals an increase in species richness in feces of diarrheic animals
Open Access
- 10 March 2010
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in BMC Microbiology
- Vol. 10 (1), 73
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-10-73
Abstract
The genus Campylobacter includes many species, some of which are known human and animal pathogens. Even though studies have repeatedly identified domestic dogs as a risk factor for human campylobacteriosis, our understanding of Campylobacter ecology in this reservoir is limited. Work to date has focused primarily on a limited number of species using culture-based methods. To expand our understanding of Campylobacter ecology in dogs, a collection of fecal samples from 70 healthy and 65 diarrheic pet dogs were examined for the presence and levels of 14 Campylobacter species using quantitative PCR. It was found that 58% of healthy dogs and 97% of diarrheic dogs shed detectable levels of Campylobacter spp., with C. coli, C. concisus, C. fetus, C. gracilis, C. helveticus, C. jejuni, C. lari, C. mucosalis, C. showae, C. sputorum and C. upsaliensis levels significantly higher in the diarrheic population. Levels of individual Campylobacter species detected ranged from 103 to 108 organisms per gram of feces. In addition, many individual samples contained multiple species of Campylobacter, with healthy dogs carrying from 0-7 detectable species while diarrheic dogs carried from 0-12 detectable species. These findings represent the largest number of Campylobacter species specifically tested for in animals and is the first report to determine quantifiable levels of Campylobacter being shed from dogs. This study demonstrates that domestic dogs can carry a wide range of Campylobacter species naturally and that there is a notable increase in species richness detectable in the diarrheic population. With several of the detected Campylobacter species known or emerging pathogens, these results are relevant to both ecological and public health discussions.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Development of cpn60 -Based Real-Time Quantitative PCR Assays for the Detection of 14 Campylobacter Species and Application to Screening of Canine Fecal SamplesApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2009
- New information about pediatric foodborne infections: the view from FoodNetCurrent Opinion in Pediatrics, 2008
- Occurrence and species level diagnostics of Campylobacter spp., enteric Helicobacter spp. and Anaerobiospirillum spp. in healthy and diarrheic dogs and catsVeterinary Microbiology, 2007
- Sporadic Campylobacter Infection in InfantsThe Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 2007
- Campylobacter concisus: an emerging pathogen?European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2005
- Risk factors for domestic sporadic campylobacteriosis among young children in SwedenScandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2005
- cpnDB: A Chaperonin Sequence DatabaseGenome Research, 2004
- Epidemiology of SporadicCampylobacterInfection in the United States and Declining Trend in Incidence, FoodNet 1996–1999Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2004
- Campylobacter upsaliensis:Another Pathogen for Consideration in the United StatesClinical Infectious Diseases, 2002
- Experimental Campylobacter jejuni Infection in HumansThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1988