Characterization of Pasteurella from gingival scrapings of dogs and cats.
Gingival scrapings of 62 dogs and cats were examined for the presence of Pasteurella. Isolation was performed in a medium supplemented with thiostrepton. Twenty-eight and 37 strains were obtained from 21 dogs and 26 cats, respectively, and classified in recently described species or subspecies of the genus Pasteurella (P.): P. multocida subspecies multocida and septica, P. canis, P. dagmatis and P. stomatis. Twenty-one strains were classified as atypical P. stomatis and one strain obtained from a cat remained unclassified. All strains were susceptible to the antibiotics studied. P. multocida and P. stomatis (including atypical strains) represented 65 and 30% of feline isolates, and 14 and 68% of canine isolates, respectively. Assuming that P. multocida, P. canis and P. dagmatis are potentially pathogenic for humans, and that P. stomatis has a low pathogenicity or non-pathogenic, 77 and 28% of examined cats and dogs harboured one or several pathogenic strains. This difference could explain the fact that Pasteurella infections in man are lower in dog bites rather than cat bites.
Ganiere
J P
JP
Ecole Vétérinaire de Nantes, France.
Escande
F
F
Andre
G
G
Larrat
M
M
D000362:Agar; D000818:Animals; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000382:microbiology; D002415:Cats / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media; D004285:Dogs / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D010325:Pasteurella / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013045:Species Specificity; D013883:Thiostrepton
D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar; D013883:Thiostrepton