Departments of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Productions, Federico II University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy.
Marine Turtle Research Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80055 Portici, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 2;18(7):3717. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073717.
This study was conducted to evaluate the presence of (C.) and in dogs at five dog training centers in Southern Italy. A total of 550 animals were sampled by collecting rectal swabs. The samples were processed to detect thermotolerant spp. by culture and molecular methods. spp. were isolated from 135/550 (24.5-95% confidence interval) dogs. A total of 84 (62.2%) and 51 (37.8%) isolates were identified using conventional PCR. The dog data (age, sex, breed, and eating habits) were examined by two statistical analyses using the and status (positive or negative) as dependent variables. Dogs fed home-cooked food showed a higher risk of being positive for than dogs fed dry or canned meat for dogs (50.0%; < 0.01). Moreover, purebred dogs had a significantly higher risk than crossbred dogs for positivity (16.4%; < 0.01). This is the first study on the prevalence of and in dogs frequenting dog training centers for animal-assisted therapies (AATs). Our findings emphasize the potential zoonotic risk for patients and users involved in AATs settings and highlight the need to carry out ad hoc health checks and to pay attention to the choice of the dog, as well as eating habits, in order to minimize the risk of infection.
本研究旨在评估意大利南部五个犬类训练中心的犬类中是否存在耐热梭菌和 。共采集了 550 只犬的直肠拭子样本。通过培养和分子方法对样本进行处理，以检测耐热梭菌属 spp.。从 550 只犬中分离出 135 只（95%置信区间为 24.5%至 95%）耐热梭菌属 spp.。采用常规 PCR 鉴定出 84 株 （62.2%）和 51 株 （37.8%）。使用两种统计分析方法对犬类数据（年龄、性别、品种和饮食习惯）进行了检查，将 状态（阳性或阴性）作为因变量。与食用干粮或罐头肉的犬相比，食用自制食物的犬感染 阳性的风险更高（50.0%；<0.01）。此外，与杂种犬相比，纯种犬感染 阳性的风险显著更高（16.4%；<0.01）。这是关于接受动物辅助治疗（AAT）的犬类中耐热梭菌和 流行率的首次研究。我们的研究结果强调了在 AAT 环境中涉及的患者和使用者的潜在人畜共患病风险，并突出了需要进行专门的健康检查，以及关注犬的选择和饮食习惯，以最大程度地降低感染风险。
