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. 2020 May 12;10(5):838.
doi: 10.3390/ani10050838.

Dogs and Cats: Reservoirs for Highly Diverse Campylobacter jejuni and a Potential Source of Human Exposure

Amandine Thépault  1   2 , Valérie Rose  1 , Marilyne Queguiner  1 , Marianne Chemaly  1 , Katell Rivoal  1
Affiliations

Dogs and Cats: Reservoirs for Highly Diverse Campylobacter jejuni and a Potential Source of Human Exposure

Amandine Thépault et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Assessing the carriage of Campylobacter in animal reservoirs is essential to better understand Campylobacter epidemiology. Here, we evaluated the prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in dogs and cats, hereafter defined as pets, and characterized Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) isolates to assess their genetic diversity and their potential link with isolates from other animals or human cases. During a 6-month period, 304 feces samples were collected from pets. A significantly higher prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. was found in dogs compared with cats, as well as in dogs ≤ 1-year-old compared with older dogs. C. jejuni was the predominant species found in pets, and its genomic characterization revealed a high genetic diversity. Genotypes comparison with previously characterized isolates revealed a partial overlap between C. jejuni isolates from pets, chicken, cattle, and clinical cases. This overlap suggests the potential role of livestock and humans in pets' exposure to Campylobacter, or vice versa. The isolation of pets' specific profiles may suggest the existence of other sources of pet contamination or imply that pets may constitute a reservoir for Campylobacter. Because of the proximity between humans and pets, along with their frequent carriage of C. jejuni, human exposure to Campylobacter from pets can be more important than previously thought.

Keywords: Campylobacter; cat; dog; zoonosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Carriage of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in pets from France. * represents the significant difference between Campylobacter spp. carriage by dogs and cats (Fisher test, p < 0.0001); ** represents the significant difference between Campylobacter spp. carriage by dogs ≤1-year-old and older dogs (Fisher test, p < 0.0001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Venn diagram representing thermophilic Campylobacter spp. carried in pets (dogs and cats) from France. Numbers represent the number of pets carrying Campylobacter species. When an overlap is observed between two or more circles representing Campylobacter species, it means a co-infection of pets by these Campylobacter species.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of CGF40-100% profiles within 161 C. jejuni isolates from cats and dogs in France. Labels on the X-axis correspond to the CGF40-100% cluster number.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of CGF40-90% profiles within 161 C. jejuni isolates from cats and dogs in France. Labels on the X-axis correspond to the CGF40-90% cluster number.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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