[Clinicobacteriological study of Pasteurella multocida as a zoonosis (1). Condition of dog and cat carriers of Pasteurella, and the influence for human carrier rate by kiss with the pets].

Pasteurella multocida is a gram-negative short rod-shaped bacteria, which is a part of the indigenous flora of the oral cavity of many animals other than man. The number of reports on cases of infections with this bacterium due to animal bites and/or scratches, bacterial infections of the respiratory tract, sepsis due to this organism and death caused by the bacteria have been increasing in recent years. We investigated P. multocida in the hair and oral cavity of 3 dogs and 29 cats according to the classification of Mutters et al.. We also studied the relationship between the carrier rate for Pasteurella in the oral cavity and kissing of pets in 24 pet owners (3 dogs and 11 cats). No P. multocida was isolated from the hair of neither dogs nor cats. One strain of P. multocida subsp. multocida and two strains of P. stomatis, were isolated from the oral cavity of dogs, and 35 strains of Pasteurella were isolated from the oral cavity of cats. Two strains of P. multocida subsp. multocida, whose biochemical properties were different, were detected in the oral cavity of one cat. In three cats, Pasteurella other than P. multocida subsp. multocida was isolated from the same oral cavity. No Pasteurella was detected in the oral cavity of 19 pet owners who had not kissed their cats, whereas P. stomatis was isolated from the oral cavity of one of 2 pet owners who had kissed their cats and in 2 of 3 pet owners who had kissed their dogs (the same bacteria was isolated from a dog that was being kept by some of these positive pet owners).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)