Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Salmonella infection and antibiotic resistance in pet dogs and cats
By Yildiz, Merve & Demirbilek, Serpil Kahya·Published in Veterinary medicine and science·2024·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Investigation of prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in pet dogs and cats in Turkey.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that 5.73% of pet dogs in Turkey tested positive for Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause food poisoning in humans, while no cats were found to carry it. Most of the infected dogs showed no symptoms, meaning they could still spread the bacteria to their owners. The researchers noted that dogs eating raw meat were more likely to carry Salmonella. Some of the bacteria were resistant to antibiotics, which raises concerns about public health. Pet owners should be cautious about raw diets and monitor their dogs for any signs of illness.
People also search for: dog Salmonella symptoms · raw meat diet dog health risks · antibiotic resistance in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although salmonellosis is considered to be a foodborne zoonotic disease, pets can play a significant role in the dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella organisms to humans because of close contact with their owners. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence, risk factors, virulence factors, serotypes, and antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella in pet dogs and cats in Turkey and to assess the public health risk. Furthermore, to perform macroscopic comparison of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in Salmonella-positive and Salmonella-negative animals. METHODS: International Standards Organization (ISO) 6579-1:2017 and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) methods were used to compare the effectiveness of culture methods in the identification of Salmonella in 348 rectal swabs. Positive isolates were serotyped using the slide agglutination method according to the White-Kauffmann-Le Minor scheme and the presence of virulence genes (invA and stn) were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial activity was tested by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. RESULTS: Salmonella prevalence was 5.73% (9/157) in dogs and 0.0% (0/191) in cats. Eight (8/9) isolates were cultured with the ISO method and 5 (5/9) isolates were cultured with the FDA method. Macroscopic results revealed that Salmonella agents had no effect on LAB. Three different serotypes were detected and all isolates were positive for virulence genes. Antibiotic resistance profiling indicated that 11.1% of the isolates were MDR and the highest resistance was found for ciprofloxacin. MDR-resistant S. Virchow and carbapenem-resistant S. Enteritidis were detected from dog isolates. There was a significant difference between raw meat consumption and Salmonella carriage (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Dogs could be potential carriers of Salmonella infection. The isolation of Salmonella in healthy dogs instead of dogs suffering from diarrhoea indicates that attention should be paid to asymptomatic carriage. The emergence of resistance among zoonotic Salmonella isolates poses a significant threat to public health.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38924270/