Presence of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in Dogs under Training for Animal-Assisted Therapies

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Luca Borrelli¹  Ludovico Dipineto¹  Lorena Varriale¹  Antonino Pace¹  Alessandro Fioretti¹  LuciaFrancesca Menna¹  Antonio Santaniello¹ 

[1] Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy;

关键词: animal-assisted therapies;    co-therapist dogs;    Campylobacter spp.;    dog training center;    survey;    zoonoses;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph18073717

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This study was conducted to evaluate the presence of Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and C. coli in dogs at five dog training centers in Southern Italy. A total of 550 animals were sampled by collecting rectal swabs. The samples were processed to detect thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. by culture and molecular methods. Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 135/550 (24.5–95% confidence interval) dogs. A total of 84 C. jejuni (62.2%) and 51 C. coli (37.8%) isolates were identified using conventional PCR. The dog data (age, sex, breed, and eating habits) were examined by two statistical analyses using the C. jejuni and C. coli status (positive or negative) as dependent variables. Dogs fed home-cooked food showed a higher risk of being positive for C. jejuni than dogs fed dry or canned meat for dogs (50.0%; p < 0.01). Moreover, purebred dogs had a significantly higher risk than crossbred dogs for C. coli positivity (16.4%; p < 0.01). This is the first study on the prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli in dogs frequenting dog training centers for animal-assisted therapies (AATs). Our findings emphasize the potential zoonotic risk for patients and users involved in AATs settings and highlight the need to carry out ad hoc health checks and to pay attention to the choice of the dog, as well as eating habits, in order to minimize the risk of infection.

【 授权许可】

Unknown