Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Brachyspira bacteria found in 13% of dogs with and without diarrhea
By Hidalgo, Alvaro et al.Ā·Published in Veterinary microbiologyĀ·2010Ā·Department of Animal Health, SpainĀ·View original on PubMed ā
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Original publication title: Prevalence of Brachyspira pilosicoli and "Brachyspira canis" in dogs and their association with diarrhoea.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that about 13% of dogs tested positive for a type of bacteria called Brachyspira, which is linked to diarrhea. Specifically, 4.8% of the dogs had Brachyspira pilosicoli, and 8% had another type called Brachyspira canis. Younger dogs, especially those under one year old, were five times more likely to shed these bacteria and have diarrhea compared to older dogs. If your dog is experiencing diarrhea, it might be worth discussing these findings with your veterinarian to see if testing for Brachyspira is appropriate.
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Abstract
The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of colonization with intestinal spirochaetes in dogs, and to assess their association with diarrhoea. To achieve this, faecal samples from 311 dogs were obtained between November 2008 and April 2009 and cultured for Brachyspira species. A total of 41 Brachyspira spp. isolates were recovered, and these were classified into species according to their biochemical properties, and results of a B. pilosicoli species-specific PCR, and partial amplification of the nox gene with sequencing of the product. An overall Brachyspira spp. prevalence of 13.2% (41/311) was obtained. The prevalence of Brachyspira pilosicoli faecal shedding was 4.8% (15/311) while "Brachyspira canis" was identified in 8.0% (25/311) of the sampled dogs. One dog shed an isolate tentatively identified as B. intermedia. A statistically significant association between the shedding of B. pilosicoli and the presence of diarrhoea in dogs was demonstrated (P<0.001). Risk factors for shedding of Brachyspira spp. were investigated. Using the odds ratio, the risk of B. pilosicoli shedding was five times higher among dogs up to 1 year of age as compared with adult dogs (older than 1 year). These findings may have practical implications in the public and animal health fields.
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Search related cases āOriginal publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20570060/