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
. 2021 Apr 16;11(4):1139.
doi: 10.3390/ani11041139.

Presence and Characterization of Zoonotic Bacterial Pathogens in Wild Boar Hunting Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in Tuscany (Italy)

Giovanni Cilia  1 , Filippo Fratini  1 , Barbara Turchi  1 , Valentina Virginia Ebani  1 , Luca Turini  1 , Stefano Bilei  2 , Teresa Bossù  2 , Maria Laura De Marchis  2 , Domenico Cerri  1 , Fabrizio Bertelloni  1
Affiliations

Presence and Characterization of Zoonotic Bacterial Pathogens in Wild Boar Hunting Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in Tuscany (Italy)

Giovanni Cilia et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) used for wild boar (Sus scrofa) hunting may represent incidental hosts for several zoonotic pathogens. This investigation aimed to evaluate the presence of anti-Leptospira antibodies and the occurrence, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence of Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, and Listeria monocytogenes in sera and rectal swabs collected from 42 domestic hunting dogs in the Tuscany region (Italy). Regarding Leptospira, 31 out of 42 serum samples (73.8%) were positive and serogroup Pomona was the most detected (71.4%) at titers between 1:100 and 1:400. Four Salmonella isolates (9.52%) were obtained, all belonging to serotype Infantis; two of them showed antimicrobial resistance to streptomycin, while pipB and sopE presence was assessed in all but one isolate. Concerning Yersinia enterocolitica, seven isolates (16.7%) were obtained, six belonging to biotype 1 and one to biotype 4. Resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cephalothin, and ampicillin was detected. Biotype 4 presented three of the virulence genes searched (ystA, ystB, inv), while isolates of biotype 1 showed only one gene. No Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from dog rectal swabs. The results suggest that hunting dogs are exposed to different bacterial zoonotic agents, potentially linked to their work activity, and highlight the possible health risks for humans.

Keywords: Leptospira; Listeria; Salmonella; Yersinia; hunting dogs; zoonoses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Wayne R.K., Vonholdt B.M. Evolutionary genomics of dog domestication. Mamm. Genome. 2012;23:3–18. doi: 10.1007/s00335-011-9386-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Larson G., Karlsson E.K., Perri A., Webster M.T., Ho S.Y.W., Peters J., Stahl P.W., Piper P.J., Lingaas F., Fredholm M., et al. Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2012;109:8878–8883. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1203005109. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Scillitani L., Monaco A., Toso S. Do intensive drive hunts affect wild boar (Sus scrofa) spatial behaviour in Italy? Some evidences and management implications. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 2010;56:307–318. doi: 10.1007/s10344-009-0314-z. - DOI
    1. Fiorello C.V., Straub M.H., Schwartz L.M., Liu J., Campbell A., Kownacki A.K., Foley J.E. Multiple-host pathogens in domestic hunting dogs in Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve. Acta Trop. 2017;167:183–190. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2016.12.020. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lowden P., Wallis C., Gee N., Hilton A. Investigating the prevalence of Salmonella in dogs within the Midlands region of the United Kingdom. BMC Vet. Res. 2015;11 doi: 10.1186/s12917-015-0553-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources