Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Feb 26;18(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/s12866-018-1153-4.

Distinct fermentation and antibiotic sensitivity profiles exist in salmonellae of canine and human origin

Corrin V Wallis  1 , Preena Lowden  2 , Zoe V Marshall-Jones  3 , Anthony C Hilton  2
Affiliations

Distinct fermentation and antibiotic sensitivity profiles exist in salmonellae of canine and human origin

Corrin V Wallis et al. BMC Microbiol. .

Abstract

Background: Salmonella enterica is a recognised cause of diarrhoea in dogs and humans, yet the potential for transfer of salmonellosis between dogs and their owners is unclear, with reported evidence both for and against Salmonella as a zoonotic pathogen. A collection of 174 S. enterica isolates from clinical infections in humans and dogs were analysed for serotype distribution, carbon source utilisation, chemical and antimicrobial sensitivity profiles. The aim of the study was to understand the degree of conservation in phenotypic characteristics of isolates across host species.

Results: Serovar distribution across human and canine isolates demonstrated nine serovars common to both host species, 24 serovars present in only the canine collection and 39 solely represented within the human collection. Significant differences in carbon source utilisation profiles and ampicillin, amoxicillin and chloramphenicol sensitivity profiles were detected in isolates of human and canine origin. Differences between the human and canine Salmonella collections were suggestive of evolutionary separation, with canine isolates better able to utilise several simple sugars than their human counterparts. Generally higher minimum inhibitory concentrations of three broad-spectrum antimicrobials, commonly used in veterinary medicine, were also observed in canine S. enterica isolates.

Conclusions: Differential carbon source utilisation and antimicrobial sensitivity profiles in pathogenic Salmonella isolated from humans and dogs are suggestive of distinct reservoirs of infection for these hosts. Although these findings do not preclude zoonotic or anthroponotic potential in salmonellae, the separation of carbon utilisation and antibiotic profiles with isolate source is indicative that infectious isolates are not part of a common reservoir shared frequently between these host species.

Keywords: Anthroponosis; Biolog; Dog; MIC; S. Enterica; Serovar; Zoonosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Approval to conduct the collections and analysis of salmonellae from canine faeces was granted by the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board. The use of archived Salmonella enterica isolates cultured from human faecal samples during the period 1990–2010 was classified as suitable for self-certification by the Aston University Research Ethics Committee, as defined by the University Research Ethics Regulations.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

This research was funded through a Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) CASE studentship granted to Aston University and undertaken in collaboration with the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition (Mars Petcare). The BBSRC funded Aston University researchers Professor Anthony Hilton and the recipient of the BBSRC studentship, Preena Lowden. Corrin Wallis and Zoe Marshall-Jones represented industrial partner supervisors employed by Mars Petcare UK. Mars Petcare representatives were involved in the design of the study, data analysis and interpretation as well as in writing the manuscript. There are no products in development or marketed products to declare.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Salmonella enterica serovars by isolate source showing serovars isolated from humans and dogs, with those isolated from both humans and dogs at the intersection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Scatterplot of principal component scores 1 and 2 from analysis of (a) carbon utilisation profiles, (i) demonstrating apparent cluster line and coloured by (ii) host species and (iii) isolate serovar and (b) chemical sensitivity profiles. The 95% confidence ellipses for the scores are shown with the corresponding colour
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Principal component scores 1 and 2 from analysis of (a) carbon utilisation profiles and (b) chemical sensitivity profiles of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium isolates from humans (blue) and dogs (red), with 95% confidence ellipses
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Newell DG, Koopmans M, Verhoef L, Duizer E, Aidara-Kane A, Sprong H, et al. Food-borne diseases - the challenges of 20 years ago still persist while new ones continue to emerge. Int J Food Microbiol. 2010;139(Suppl 1):S3–15. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2010.01.021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marks SL, Rankin SC, Byrne BA, Weese JS. Enteropathogenic bacteria in dogs and cats: diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment, and control. J Vet Intern Med. 2011;25(6):1195–1208. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2011.00821.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Samadpour M, Barbour MW, Nguyen T, Cao TM, Buck F, Depavia GA, et al. Incidence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes in retail fresh ground beef, sprouts, and mushrooms. J Food Prot. 2006;69(2):441–443. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-69.2.441. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Regunath H, Salza W. Sources and vehicles of foodborne infectious diseases. In: Khardori N, editor. Food microbiology: in human health and disease FL. USA: CRC Press; 2016. pp. 67–91.
    1. Fardsanei F, Nikkhahi F, Bakhshi B, Salehi TZ, Tamai IA, Soltan Dallal MM. Molecular characterization of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis isolates from food and human samples by serotyping, antimicrobial resistance, plasmid profiling, (GTG)5-PCR and ERIC-PCR. New Microbes New Infect. 2016;14:24–30. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2016.07.016. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms