Oral flora of stray dogs and cats in Algeria: and other zoonotic bacteria.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Knowledge of potentially pathogenic bacteria presents in the oral cavity of dogs and cats may be helpful in determining appropriate treatment for infected bite wounds. About 120.000 people are exposed to dog and cat bites every year in Algeria, but little is known about the dog and cat oral flora causing bite wound complications. The purpose of this study was to identify potential zoonotic bacteria from oral cavity of dogs and cats and to determine their susceptibility to antibiotics to contribute to the treatment of bite wound infection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Oral swabs from 100 stray dogs and 100 stray cats were collected and cultured in several media: Chocolate agar, MacConkey agar, and Mannitol Salt Agar. Bacterial isolates were identified using several commercial kits of the analytical profile index and tested for antibiotic susceptibility by disk diffusion method.

RESULTS

Overall, 185/200 (92.5%) dogs and cats carried zoonotic bacteria in their mouths, of which 55.13% (102/185) had at least two bacterial pathogens. 374 pathogenic strains belonging to 15 genera were isolated: Eleven were Gram-negative (, , , , , , , and ) and four were Gram-positive (, , and , ). Fifty-one strains of were isolated from 44 carriers of (21 , 21 , and 9 spp.). strains were tested for antibiotic resistance. Resistance to at least one drug was observed in 8 (15.68%) of isolates and two strains (3.92%) were found to be multidrug-resistant (to two or more drugs). Erythromycin, penicillin, and ampicillin were the antimicrobials to which the isolates showed greater resistance (7.84%, 5.88%, and 3.92%, respectively).

CONCLUSION

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first in Algeria to detect potential human pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity of dogs and cats. It reveals that these animals have multiple zoonotic bacteria in their mouths including species, which may be multidrug-resistant.