Carriage ofby clinically normal dogs in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Abstract

AIMS: To investigate the frequency of carriage of methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant(MRSP) in a population of clinically normal dogs within the Christchurch and wider Canterbury region, an area in which MRSP has been detected. METHODS: Buccal and perianal swabs were collected from 126 clinically normal dogs presenting at veterinary clinics in the Christchurch/Canterbury region for de-sexing or routine vaccination.was isolated by selective culture. Isolates were tested for susceptibility to 12 antimicrobials by disc diffusion. RESULTS: was isolated from 92/126 (73.0 (95% CI = 64.4-80.5)%) dogs, with 38/126 (30.2 (95% CI = 22.3-39.0)%) positive dogs carryingat both sampled sites. More animals (78/126; 61.9 (95% CI = 52.8-70.4)%) had positive mouth cultures than positive perianal region cultures (52/126; 41.3 (95% CI = 32.6-50.4)%). No MRSP was isolated from clinically normal dogs. However, resistance to penicillin (106/130 (85.1%) swabs) and tetracycline (33/130 (25.4%) swabs) was seen. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the dogs in this sample were carriers of. However, none of these isolates were MRSP. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: While most clinically normal dogs in the studied region are likely to be carriers of, only a small proportion, if any, are likely to be carriers of MRSP. Antibiotic stewardship practices may be important to maintain low-level circulation of drug-resistant bacterial lineages.