Serovars, bacteriophage types and antimicrobial sensitivities associated with salmonellosis in dogs in the UK (1954–2012)

Abstract

Serovars and bacteriophage (phage) types were determined for 442 isolates of Salmonella enterica from dogs in the UK submitted to the Scottish Salmonella Reference Laboratory from 1954 to 2012. The most frequent serovars were Salmonella Typhimurium (196 isolates; 44.3 per cent), Dublin (40 isolates; 9.0 per cent), Enteritidis (28 isolates; 6.3 per cent), Montevideo (19 isolates; 4.3 per cent), Virchow (10 isolates; 2.3 per cent), Heidelberg (8 isolates; 1.8 per cent) and Derby (8 isolates; 1.8 per cent), along with 55 other recognised serovars among 127 other isolates, and six incompletely classified isolates. Serovars were frequently represented by strains commonly associated with poultry, cattle or pigs and their products. Among 196 Salmonella Typhimurium isolates from dogs, the most frequent phage types (definitive types) were the multiple antimicrobial-resistant strains DT104 (62 isolates), DT204c (18 isolates) and DT193 (8 isolates), along with antimicrobial sensitive wild finch strains DT40 (13 isolates) and DT56 variant (8 isolates). Eleven of 28 isolates of Salmonella Enteritidis were phage type 4. S enterica was frequently recovered from faecal or intestinal samples of dogs with diarrhoea, although many dogs had concurrent infection with other enteric pathogens. Salmonella Dublin was recovered from the brain and/or cerebrospinal fluid of two dogs with meningoencephalitis. Salmonella Kedougou was isolated from the joint fluid of a dog with septic arthritis. Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Dublin were each recovered from the vaginas of bitches that had aborted. Isolates of Salmonella Enteritidis phage types 1, 4 and 8, Salmonella Typhimurium DT104, Salmonella Dublin and Salmonella Indiana were isolated from clinically healthy dogs in households where the same strains were recovered from human beings with diarrhoea. The pattern ampicillin-chloramphenicol-spectinomycin-streptomycin-sulfamethoxazole-tetracycline (ACSpSSuT) was the most frequent resistance phenotype and was observed in 44 (13.3 per cent) of 330 isolates. Dogs in the UK are exposed to a wide variety of serovars of S enterica, sometimes associated with clinical disease, and represent a zoonotic risk.

Multilaboratory Survey To Evaluate Salmonella Prevalence in Diarrheic and Nondiarrheic Dogs and Cats in the United States between 2012 and 2014

“…This is similar to the findings of many other surveys (32, 44, 45, 84, 85, 89–91). Two of the isolates in the present study were resistant to three or more antibiotics.…”

“…Many Salmonella serovars have been reported in dogs and cats (80, 84–86). The occurrence of various serovars has varied over time and geographic region.…”

Salmonella infection and carriage: the importance of dogs and their owners

“…The EU summary report for 2011 on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria from people, animals and food (EFSA 2013) records the increasing appearance of resistance to these agents in Salmonella isolates from pigs and poultry in particular. Although Philbey and others (2014) did not report resistance to critically important antimicrobials in canine isolates between 1954 and 2012, it might be expected that such resistance will appear in Salmonella isolates from dogs in the future. These authors rightly highlight the importance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing when treating suspect clinical salmonellosis in dogs.…”

“…The paper by Philbey and others (2014), summarised on p 94 of this issue of Veterinary Record , provides interesting and valuable data on salmonellosis in dogs in the UK over several decades. Subclinical carriage of salmonellae in dogs is thought to occur more frequently than clinical disease but Philbey and others (2014) report its isolation from dogs with diarrhoea, albeit often concurrently with other pathogens, and occasionally from dogs with other clinical conditions. The latter included isolation of salmonellae from the cerebrospinal fluid of two dogs with meningoencephalitis and from the joint fluid from an arthritic dog.…”

“…S Typhimurium DT104 emerged as the predominant phage type in the 1990s but has been isolated less frequently in the UK since 2000. Figure 2 in Philbey and others (2014) clearly depicts the emergence and subsequent decline in dogs of a number of different phage types of S Typhimurium, including DT104, over several decades.…”