Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Puppy with bloody diarrhea had six types of spiral bacteria isolated
By Misawa, Naoaki et al.·Published in Veterinary microbiology·2002·Faculty of Agriculture, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Isolation and characterization of Campylobacter, Helicobacter, and Anaerobiospirillum strains from a puppy with bloody diarrhea.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-month-old female puppy was brought in with bloody diarrhea. Tests showed a large number of spiral-shaped bacteria in her stool, leading to the identification of several types, including Campylobacter and Helicobacter. The puppy was treated with amoxicillin, which initially cleared up the diarrhea, but it returned a day after finishing the medication. After extending the treatment for another six days, the diarrhea resolved again, indicating that the bacteria were likely causing the issue.
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Abstract
We carried out a microscopic examination of stools from a 2-month-old female puppy with bloody diarrhea, and this revealed large numbers of different spiral-shaped bacteria. To isolate these organisms, a rectal swab specimen was inoculated onto plates of Skirrow's agar and incubated at 37 degrees C for 6 days in a microaerobic atmosphere. Finally, a total of six different spiral-shaped bacteria (strains G1104, 94105, FR106, B0101, 3J102, and J2103) were isolated. Based on their morphology, biochemical traits, whole-cell protein profiles, and analysis of their 16S rDNA sequences, they were identified as Campylobacter upsaliensis, Helicobacter cinaedi, 'Flexispira rappini', two Anaerobiospirillum spp. with different morphologies, and Helicobacter sp., respectively. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence data for strains 94150 (H. cinaedi) and FR106 (F. rappini) revealed that this approach has limitations when identifying isolates to the species level because of a high degree of sequence homology between these species (>99%) and considerable sequence variation among different isolates within these species. The dog was treated orally with amoxicillin for 3 days, which resolved the diarrhea. However, 1 day after the last dose the bloody diarrhea recurred but regarded to six more days amoxicillin treatment. This suggests a bacterial cause for the diarrhea. The approach to identification to microaerobic spiral-shaped bacteria in diarrheic dogs can be applied further to characterize their role in diarrhea illness.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12069772/