Abstract
Bordetella bronchiseptica is a potential zoonotic pathogen, which mainly causes respiratory diseases in humans and a variety of animal species. B. bronchiseptica is one of the important pathogens isolated from rabbits in Fujian Province. However, the knowledge of the epidemiology and characteristics of the B. bronchiseptica in rabbits in Fujian Province is largely unknown. In this study, 219 B. bronchiseptica isolates recovered from lung samples of dead rabbits with respiratory diseases in Fujian Province were characterised by multi-locus sequencing typing, screening virulence genes and testing antimicrobial susceptibility. The results showed that the 219 isolates were typed into 11 sequence types (STs) including five known STs (ST6, ST10, ST12, ST14 and ST33) and six new STs (ST88, ST89, ST90, ST91, ST92 and ST93) and the ST33 (30.14%, 66/219), ST14 (26.94%, 59/219) and ST12 (16.44%, 36/219) were the three most prevalent STs. Surprisingly, all the 219 isolates carried the five virulence genes (fhaB, prn, cyaA, dnt and bteA) in the polymerase chain reaction screening. Moreover, the isolates were resistant to cefixime, ceftizoxime, cefatriaxone and ampicillin at rates of 33.33%, 31.05%, 11.87% and 3.20%, respectively. This study showed the genetic diversity of B. bronchiseptica in rabbits in Fujian Province, and the colonisation of the human-associated ST12 strain in rabbits in Fujian Province. The results might be useful for monitoring the epidemic strains, developing preventive methods and preventing the transmission of epidemic strains from rabbits to humans.
Highlights
Bordetella bronchiseptica can infect humans and a number of animal species [1]
Lung samples were collected from dead rabbits with respiratory diseases in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Research Ethics Committee of the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Fujian Academy of Agriculture Sciences (FAAS)
Five well-characterised virulence genes that thought to be involved in interactions with the host were screened in the isolates, including filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA), pertactin, adenylate cyclase-haemolysin toxin, dermonecrotic toxin and the Bordetella type-III secretion system effector A [15,16,17,18,19]
Summary
Bordetella bronchiseptica can infect humans and a number of animal species [1]. The infection of B. bronchiseptica in immunocompetent humans is rare. To the best of our knowledge, B. bronchiseptica is a common pathogen isolated from rabbits with respiratory diseases in Fujian Province. B. bronchiseptica strains were recovered from the lung samples of dead rabbits with respiratory diseases.
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