Abstract
BackgroundThe aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter species in Swedish dogs, to identify the species of the Campylobacter isolates and to genotype the C. jejuni isolates. Young and healthy dogs were targeted and the sampling was performed at 11 veterinary clinics throughout Sweden from October 2011 to October 2012. Faecal swab samples were collected and sent to the laboratory at the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) for isolation of Campylobacter, speciation and genotyping.ResultsCampylobacter spp. were isolated from 67 of the 180 sampled dogs which yields an overall prevalence of 37%. The most prevalent species of Campylobacter among the participating dogs was C. upsaliensis with 52 of the 67 identified isolates. A lower prevalence was observed for C. jejuni with seven identified isolates and one isolate was identified as C. helveticus. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was carried out on the seven C. jejuni isolates and all sequence types that were found are also commonly found in humans. The dogs were divided into three age groups; 1) under 12 months, 2) 12 to 23 months and 3) 24 months and older. The highest prevalence was found in the two younger age groups. Dogs shedding C. jejuni were between 3–12 months of age while dogs shedding C. upsaliensis were found in all ages.ConclusionsThe present investigation finds that Campylobacter spp. known to cause campylobacteriosis in humans are present in Swedish dogs. The results suggest an age predisposition where dogs under 2 years of age are more likely to shed Campylobacter spp. than older dogs. The most commonly isolated species was C. upsaliensis followed by C. jejuni, which was only detected in dogs up to 12 months of age. All C. jejuni isolates identified in the present study were of the same MLST types that have previously been described both in humans and in animals. The awareness of the Campylobacter risk of healthy young dogs may be an important way to reduce the transmission from dogs to infants, young children and immunocompromised adults.
Highlights
The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter species in Swedish dogs, to identify the species of the Campylobacter isolates and to genotype the C. jejuni isolates
The dogs shedding C. jejuni were sampled at different locations except for two that were sampled in the same clinic
The most common Campylobacter species among the tested dogs (52/180 dogs) was by far C. upsaliensis which is in agreement with many previous studies on dogs where relatively high prevalences of C. upsaliensis have been found in many different populations and countries [5,7,9,22,28]
Summary
The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter species in Swedish dogs, to identify the species of the Campylobacter isolates and to genotype the C. jejuni isolates. Humans can be infected with Campylobacter by several routes and the bacteria are commonly found in a wide range of Holmberg et al Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica (2015) 57:19 diarrhoea, but the dogs with diarrhoea had concurrent gastrointestinal parasites, inflammatory bowel disease or diabetes [9]. A study of dogs in Barbados found no difference in clinical disease in dogs with and without presence of Campylobacter in the faeces, but indicated that co-infection with parvovirus and Campylobacter was common [10]. The true role of Campylobacter in canine gastroenteritis is uncertain as the bacteria may be found in clinically healthy dogs or often as a co-infection or intestinal carriage in diseased dogs
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