TY - JOUR
T1 - Epidemiologic features of Campylobacter infection among cats in the upper midwestern United States
AU - Bender, Jeffrey B.
AU - Shulman, Stephanie A.
AU - Averbeck, Gary A.
AU - Pantlin, Gayle C.
AU - Stromberg, Bert E.
PY - 2005/2/15
Y1 - 2005/2/15
N2 - Objective - To describe the epidemiologic features of Camp-ylobacter infection among cats in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Design - Prevalence survey. Animals - 152 cats examined at 3 private veterinary clinics and an animal humane society. Procedures - Fecal samples were submitted for bacterial culture for Campylobacter spp. To determine the duration of Campylobacter carriage, follow-up fecal samples were collected from cats with positive Campylobacter culture results. Results - Campylobacter organisms were cultured from 37 of the 152 (24%) fecal samples. Campylobacter Isolates were identified as Campylobacter upsaliensis (29 cats), Campylobacter jejuni (2), and Campylobacter coli (1); species of the remaining 5 isolates could not be determined. Campylobacter organisms were isolated from 36 of the 122 (30%) cats that were ≤ 1 year old but from only 1 of the 30 (3%) cats that were > 1 year old, and shedding was more common during the summer and fall months. No association between Campylobacter shedding and clinical signs of disease was identified. For 4 of 13 cats from which follow-up fecal samples were obtained, duration of Campylobacter carriage could not be determined because Campylobacter organisms were isolated from all follow-up samples. For the remaining 9 cats, median duration of Campylobacter carriage was 44 days. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance - C upsaliensis can commonly be isolated from the feces of overtly healthy kittens in the Midwest United States. Because carriage may be prolonged, veterinarians should encourage good hand hygiene among owners of cats, especially among owners with new kittens in their household.
AB - Objective - To describe the epidemiologic features of Camp-ylobacter infection among cats in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Design - Prevalence survey. Animals - 152 cats examined at 3 private veterinary clinics and an animal humane society. Procedures - Fecal samples were submitted for bacterial culture for Campylobacter spp. To determine the duration of Campylobacter carriage, follow-up fecal samples were collected from cats with positive Campylobacter culture results. Results - Campylobacter organisms were cultured from 37 of the 152 (24%) fecal samples. Campylobacter Isolates were identified as Campylobacter upsaliensis (29 cats), Campylobacter jejuni (2), and Campylobacter coli (1); species of the remaining 5 isolates could not be determined. Campylobacter organisms were isolated from 36 of the 122 (30%) cats that were ≤ 1 year old but from only 1 of the 30 (3%) cats that were > 1 year old, and shedding was more common during the summer and fall months. No association between Campylobacter shedding and clinical signs of disease was identified. For 4 of 13 cats from which follow-up fecal samples were obtained, duration of Campylobacter carriage could not be determined because Campylobacter organisms were isolated from all follow-up samples. For the remaining 9 cats, median duration of Campylobacter carriage was 44 days. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance - C upsaliensis can commonly be isolated from the feces of overtly healthy kittens in the Midwest United States. Because carriage may be prolonged, veterinarians should encourage good hand hygiene among owners of cats, especially among owners with new kittens in their household.
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U2 - 10.2460/javma.2005.226.544
DO - 10.2460/javma.2005.226.544
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15742694
AN - SCOPUS:13744261837
SN - 0003-1488
VL - 226
SP - 544
EP - 547
JO - Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
JF - Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
IS - 4
ER -