Pathogenic Strains ofYersinia enterocoliticaIsolated from Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) Belonging to Farmers Are of the Same Subtype as PathogenicY. enterocoliticaStrains Isolated from Humans and May Be a Source of Human Infection in Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract

We isolated 326 Yersinia enterocolitica strains from 5,919 specimens from patients with diarrhea at outpatient clinics, livestock, poultry, wild animals, insect vectors, food, and the environment in the cities of Nantong and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, China, from 2004 to 2008. The results showed that the 12 pathogenic strains were of the O:3 serotype. Six strains were isolated from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) belonging to farmers and were found to be the primary carriers of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains, especially in Xuzhou. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of the pathogenic strains from dogs belonging to farmers showed that they shared the same patterns as strains from diarrhea patients isolated in 1994. This indicates that the strains from domestic dogs have a close correlation with the strains causing human infections.

Yersinia enterocolitica in Diagnostic Fecal Samples from European Dogs and Cats: Identification by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry

“…enterocolitica is regarded as a significant food-borne pathogen (1,2). Besides food from animal sources, especially pork (13,26), companion animals have been implicated as a potential source for human Yersinia infections (4,7,14,16,23,25,43). Strains isolated from dogs in particular share common genotypes with pathogenic strains isolated from humans (7,13).…”

“…Recent Chinese studies placed greater relevance on companion animals, especially dogs, as primary sources of infection in humans, although dogs consumed as food were an additional source of infection, which is not a factor that needs to be considered in Europe (24,25). It was shown that some pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains isolated from ill humans and dogs had the same subtype as well as the same pattern by pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (25). In previous case-control studies, contact with companion animals was shown to be a confirmed risk factor for human yersiniosis (24,26).…”

Complete Genome Sequence of a Yersinia enterocolitica “Old World” (3/O:9) Strain and Comparison with the “New World” (1B/O:8) Strain

“…The strain 105.5R(r) was recovered in 1996 from a patient in the People's Hospital of Shenyang in Jilin City, Liaoning Province, China. Characterization of this strain has been described previously (43).…”

“…Y. enterocolitica has established a broad base of animal reservoirs; however, colonization in swine presents the most robust capacity for transmission to humans (22,32), and dogs have been implicated as a potentially significant source in rural families (43). Human infection is primarily localized to the gastrointestinal tract, where a wide range of syndromes can emerge in response to the bacteria's presence, including enteritis, enterocolitis, mesenteric lymphadenitis, and terminal ileitis (6).…”

Homology Analysis of Pathogenic Yersinia Species Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and Yersinia pestis Based on Multilocus Sequence Typing

“…Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. enterocolitica are zoonotic food-borne pathogens that spread through the fecal-oral route; they have a broad host range, infecting animals, including swine, dogs, rodents, birds, and wild animals (3,4). Many studies show that swine and dogs are the most common sources of Y. enterocolitica infections in humans (5,6). These enteropathogens cause human enteric diseases, both sporadically and in epidemics worldwide.…”