Occurrence, virulence potential, antimicrobial susceptibility and genetic diversity of Campylobacter spp. isolated from dogs and cats from Warsaw, Poland and the surrounding area
Abstract P14
Presenter: Małgorzata Murawska (Warsaw University of Life Sciences)
Campylobacter spp. (mostly C. jejuni and C. coli) is the most common cause of human gastroenteritis in Europe. Main sources of Campylobacter spp. are poultry, other farm animals and their products (e. g. meat and dairy), contaminated water and soil. Many research also indicate companion animals, such as dogs and cats, as a potential reservoir of *Campylobacter spp. Pets, excluding diarrhoea episodes in young and senior animals, are usually asymptomatic carriers of different Campylobacter species but they might be source of infection for owners and animal shelters workers.
The aim of our study was to determine prevalence, drug-resistance, virulence potential and genetic diversity of Campylobacter species isolated from faeces of dogs and cats. A total number of 222 faecal samples were examined, including 124 and 98 specimens from animal shelter and from private owners, respectively. Thirty four Campylobacter spp. strains were isolated from 29 animals. We identified 22 C. jejuni strains, 9 C. lari and 3 C. upsaliensis strains. All examined genes responsible for motility and toxin production were detected in all strains. Three of four genes responsible for adhesion and invasion were found in all 34 strains, however we did not detect cadF gene in three C. upsaliensis strains. Among isolated strains 91,2 %, 23 % and 76,5% were resistant to ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and ampicillin, respectively. No resistance to erythromycin or gentamicin was detected. Four strains (11,8%) were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR). All of the ciprofloxacin resistant strains showed point mutation (257C>T) resulting in amino acid substitution (Thr-86-Ile), all of the tetracycline-resistant strains carried tetO gene on plasmid. We detected very high levels of fluoroquinolones and penicillins resistance and significant percentage of tetracyclines resistance among isolated strains which comes along with the literature data. Based on the obtained results we can conclude that dogs may be a reservoir of diverse, potentially virulent and antimicrobial-resistant strains of different Campylobacter species for their owners and animal shelters employees. It seems important to monitor the prevalence, potential virulence and drug-resistance of Campylobacter spp. in companion animals on a larger scale.
Presenting in Speaking session 1 - Host adaptation