Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Staphylococcus bacteria on skin and noses of healthy and itchy dogs
By Fazakerley, Jennifer et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2009·Department of Veterinary Clinical Science, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Staphylococcal colonization of mucosal and lesional skin sites in atopic and healthy dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that 87.5% of dogs with atopic dermatitis (a skin allergy condition) carried a type of bacteria called Staphylococcus intermedius, compared to only 37.2% of healthy dogs. The researchers took samples from different areas, including the nose and ears, and found that the ear was the only place where the bacteria were significantly more common in atopic dogs. This suggests that dogs with skin allergies are more likely to have this bacteria, which can contribute to their skin problems. The findings highlight the importance of testing both the nose and perineum to identify dogs that carry this bacteria.
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Abstract
Staphylococcal colonization was compared in healthy dogs and in dogs with atopic dermatitis. Bacterial swabs were collected from the nasal mucosa, ear and perineum of 43 healthy and 24 atopic dogs and also from potentially infected skin lesions of the atopic dogs. Coagulase positive staphylococcal isolates were identified to the species level. At the time of this study Staphylococcus intermedius was considered a single species but has since been recognized as comprising at least three species with canine isolates believed to belong to Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Of atopic dogs, 87.5% were colonized with S. intermedius compared to only 37.2% of healthy dogs. The ear was the only carriage site that showed any significant difference in S. intermedius isolation between healthy and atopic dogs. The perineum represented the most frequently colonized mucosal site for both groups. Sampling the nasal mucosa alone identified 71.4% of atopic and 37.5% of healthy S. intermedius carriers. Inclusion of a perineal swab identified 100% of atopic and 93.8% of healthy carriers. S. intermedius was isolated from all the lesional sites sampled from atopic dogs. Significantly fewer dogs were colonized by Staphylococcus aureus than S. intermedius, and there was no significant difference between S. aureus colonization of atopic and healthy dogs. S. aureus was not recovered from any lesions in atopic dogs. The results show that S. intermedius carriage is more prevalent in atopic dogs compared to healthy dogs and that to identify staphylococcal carriers both the nasal mucosa and the perineum should be sampled.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19392768/