Staphylococcal colonization of mucosal and lesional skin sites in atopic and healthy dogs

Abstract

Staphylococcal colonization was compared in healthy dogs and in dogs with atopic dermatitis. Bacterial swabs were collected from the nasal mucosa, ear and perineum of 43 healthy and 24 atopic dogs and also from potentially infected skin lesions of the atopic dogs. Coagulase positive staphylococcal isolates were identified to the species level. At the time of this study Staphylococcus intermedius was considered a single species but has since been recognized as comprising at least three species with canine isolates believed to belong to Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Of atopic dogs, 87.5% were colonized with S. intermedius compared to only 37.2% of healthy dogs. The ear was the only carriage site that showed any significant difference in S. intermedius isolation between healthy and atopic dogs. The perineum represented the most frequently colonized mucosal site for both groups. Sampling the nasal mucosa alone identified 71.4% of atopic and 37.5% of healthy S. intermedius carriers. Inclusion of a perineal swab identified 100% of atopic and 93.8% of healthy carriers. S. intermedius was isolated from all the lesional sites sampled from atopic dogs. Significantly fewer dogs were colonized by Staphylococcus aureus than S. intermedius, and there was no significant difference between S. aureus colonization of atopic and healthy dogs. S. aureus was not recovered from any lesions in atopic dogs. The results show that S. intermedius carriage is more prevalent in atopic dogs compared to healthy dogs and that to identify staphylococcal carriers both the nasal mucosa and the perineum should be sampled.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus schleiferi subsp. coagulans Isolated from Dogs with Pyoderma in Japan

“…All swabs were transported to our laboratory, following placement in Stuart's transport medium (Becton, Dickinson and Co.). The methods to identify CoPS isolates were performed as previously described [10,14] with partially modification. Swabs were inoculated by streaking onto mannitol salt agar plates (Nissui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan).…”

Distribution of coagulase-positive staphylococci in humans and dogs

“…Five dogs (55.6%) in which this bacterium was isolated had dermatitis, other carriers had respiratory and digestive diseases. Fazakerley et al (2009) found that 87.5% dogs with atopic dermatitis were colonized with S.(pseud)intermedius compared to 37.2% of healthy dogs in a UK performed research.…”

Anatomical patterns of colonization of pets with staphylococcal species in homes of people with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin or soft tissue infection (SSTI)

“…Several studies have considered anatomic site patterns of S. pseudintermedius carriage in dogs (Harvey and Noble, 1998;Hartmann et al, 2005;Griffeth et al, 2008;Rubin and Chirino-Trejo, 2011;Paul et al, 2012) and cats (Abraham et al, 2007). However, fewer studies that detail canine and especially feline anatomic carriage site patterns of S. aureus are available (Abraham et al, 2007;Griffeth et al, 2008;Fazakerley et al, 2009;Davis et al, 2014). The primary aim of this study was to systematically test the sensitivity of different anatomic sites for the recovery of S. aureus and MRSA among companion animals living in the home of a person recently treated for MRSA skin or soft tissue infection (SSTI).…”