Presence of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in Dogs under Training for Animal-Assisted Therapies

Antonio Santaniello, Lorena Varriale, Ludovico Dipineto, Luca Borrelli, Antonino Pace, Alessandro Fioretti and Lucia Francesca Menna
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Antonio Santaniello: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Lorena Varriale: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Ludovico Dipineto: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Luca Borrelli: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Antonino Pace: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Alessandro Fioretti: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy
Lucia Francesca Menna: Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the presence of Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and C. coli in dogs at five dog training centers in Southern Italy. A total of 550 animals were sampled by collecting rectal swabs. The samples were processed to detect thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. by culture and molecular methods. Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 135/550 (24.5–95% confidence interval) dogs. A total of 84 C. jejuni (62.2%) and 51 C. coli (37.8%) isolates were identified using conventional PCR. The dog data (age, sex, breed, and eating habits) were examined by two statistical analyses using the C. jejuni and C. coli status (positive or negative) as dependent variables. Dogs fed home-cooked food showed a higher risk of being positive for C. jejuni than dogs fed dry or canned meat for dogs (50.0%; p < 0.01). Moreover, purebred dogs had a significantly higher risk than crossbred dogs for C. coli positivity (16.4%; p < 0.01). This is the first study on the prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli in dogs frequenting dog training centers for animal-assisted therapies (AATs). Our findings emphasize the potential zoonotic risk for patients and users involved in AATs settings and highlight the need to carry out ad hoc health checks and to pay attention to the choice of the dog, as well as eating habits, in order to minimize the risk of infection.

Keywords: animal-assisted therapies; co-therapist dogs; Campylobacter spp.; dog training center; survey; zoonoses; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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