Prevalence of most common human pathogenic Campylobacter spp. in dogs and cats in Styria, Austria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of occurrence of most common human pathogenic Campylobacter species, Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and Campylobacter coli (C. coli), in dogs and cats in Styria, Austria. In the period from April 2010 to April 2012, 842 faecal samples from dogs and cats from Styria, Austria were examined for Campylobacter (C.) species (spp.). All samples were subjected to qualitative microbiological culture testing, and additionally, some of them have been studied using qualitative real‐time PCR. In microbiological culture, 5.9% of all samples investigated were C. spp. positive. With 3.1% out of positive samples, C. jejuni was the most common type. Campylobacter upsaliensis (C. upsaliensis) was detected only in 0.5% of the samples. The remaining positive samples (2.4%) were classified as C. species (sp.). C. coli could not be found in any of the samples. A higher prevalence of C. jejuni was found in kittens with 14.3% and in diarrhoeic dogs (7.4%) and cats (23.8%). The real‐time PCR revealed for dogs and cats together, 27% of C. jejuni‐positive faecal and 8% positive faecal swap samples. The obtained C. jejuni strains underwent antibiotic resistance testing using three different tests (agar diffusion, MIC testing and E‐test) with different numbers of antibiotics. From the antibiotics used in this study, several showed high test‐dependent resistance rates (cephalexin, cefovecin, kanamycin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, penicillin G, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, marbofloxacin, nalidixic acid). Overall, the prevalence of C. spp. in this study was very low compared to others, with the exception of C. jejuni in kittens and diarrhoeic animals. The results of the real‐time PCR suggest that the rate of colonization of C. jejuni was actually higher than the results of the culture showed. As the resistance rates of C. jejuni isolates partly were very high, possible transmission of (multi‐) resistant C. jejuni strains to humans especially from kittens and diarrhoeic animals must be expected.

Occurrence, Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance-Associated Markers in Campylobacter Species Isolated from Retail Fresh Milk and Water Samples in Two District Municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

“…Campylobacter species are among the several pathogens that sometimes contaminate raw milk [ 19 , 20 ]. In several parts of the world, Campylobacter species have been reported to be implicated in disease outbreaks and Campylobacter infections are of varying severity ranges from abdominal pains, vomiting, nausea, fever and diarrhea [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. In extreme cases, acute phase of Campylobacter infection is followed by sequelae: Guillain-Barré syndrome or even death [ 24 ].…”

The prevalence of virulence genes and multidrug resistance in thermophilic Campylobacter spp. isolated from dogs

“…The incidence of this disease in humans has been increased in Europe since 2005 [ 4 ]. In 2015 the overall incidence of infections in the EU was 65.5 cases per 100.000 inhabitants [ 5 ]. 20-40% of human infections were caused by contact with poultry or poultry meat [ 6 ].…”

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), porA and flaA typing of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from cats attending a veterinary clinic

“…to range from 0.8 to 78%; C. jejuni from 1 to 31%; C. upsaliensis from 5 to 66% and C. lari from 0–4% [26, 36]. Our prevalence in kittens is lower than the reported prevalence of C. jejuni in kittens (14.3%) and cats with diarrhoea (23.8%) [29]. The authors of the latter work commented on a striking difference between cats below the age of 1 year and adult animals, as they found only C. jejuni -positive animals among the positive kittens.…”

“…The estimates of C. jejuni prevalence in cats varies widely between countries, ranging from 1.3 to 16.8% [22–28] with higher prevalence in kittens (14.3%) and diarrhoeal cats (23.8%) [29]. Although kittens may thus pose a larger risk of Campylobacter carriage than adult animals, owners are more typically exposed to adult animals than to kittens.…”