Prevalence of the Enterohepatic Helicobacter Infection in Pet Dogs and Cats from the National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital In-patients and Quarantine Center
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Chen, Tsung-Yu
Abstract
Helicobacter infections have been reported in multiple species in the past twenty five years. Some of them are demonstrated to be zoonotic and shown to induce gastritis, gastric ulcer, gastric cancer, enterohepatic disorders and septicemia in human. Nevertheless, these pathogens usually induce asymptomatic infection in dogs and cats, it is important to identify/diagnose the infected animals. A previous study demonstrated that the infectious rate of helicobacter infection was 58% for the pet dogs and cats in a quarantine center in Taiwan. Some potential zoonotic helicobacters, including H. cinaedi and H. canis were identified in positive samples. These potential zoonotic helicobacters might be imported into Taiwan through the infected pets. However, limited studies were focus on the prevalence of enterohepatic helicobacter infection in pets in Taiwan. This study will aim at (i) prevalence of enterohepatic helicobacter infection in pet dogs and cats in Taiwan, (ii) detection of newly helicobacters in the pet dogs and cats from quarantine center, (iii) and detection the potential zoonotic helicobacters in the pet dogs and cats in Taiwan or from quarantine center. A non-invasive fecal duplex PCR assay has been successfully developed and applied in this study. Fecal samples collected from 92 pets from the National Taiwan University Animal Hospital (NTUAH) and from 361 quarantined pets were screened by the fecal duplex PCR for helicobacters. The prevalence of helicobacter infection from NTUAH and quarantine center is 52% and 64% respectively. Within the helicobacter-positive samples, 35 samples were randomly selected and sequenced. Phylogenic analyses revealed that several potential zoonotic helicobacters, such as H. canis, Helicobacter sp. Flexispira taxon 8 and H. felis-like and some newly identified helicobacters were detected in the fecal samples collected from the NTUAH and quarantine center. The result of this study suggested that enterohepatic helicobacter infection is common in pets in Taiwan and in quarantine center and zoonotic helicobacters have been detected in these animals. The helicobacter-infected pets have the potential to hazard the clinicians or owners, contaminate the environment and further infect other people and animals. It is highly recommended to include the helicobacteriosis, an emerging infectious disease, in the routine health monitoring list for pets and imported animals in quarantine centers.. Further colaboration with physician to survey the zoonotic helicobacter infection in pet owner and pets will be performed to clarify the role of pets in the transmission of zoonotic helicobacters.
Subjects
Enterohepatic helicobacter
zoonotic helicobacter
helicobacter prevalence
dog
cat
Taiwan
SDGs
Type
thesis
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