Survey of Helicobacter infection in domestic and feral cats in Korea.
Discovery of Helicobacter (H.) pylori has led to a fundamental change in our understanding of gastric diseases in humans. Previous studies have found various Helicobacter spp. in dogs and cats, and pets have been questioned as a zoonotic carrier. The present study surveyed the Helicobacter infections and investigated the presence of H. felis and H. pylori infections in domestic and feral cats in Korea. Sixty-four domestic cats and 101 feral cats were selected from an animal shelter. Saliva and feces were evaluated by Helicobacter genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genus-specific PCR positive samples were further evaluated for H. felis and H. pylori using specific primer pairs. Thirty-six of 64 (56.3%) samples from domestic cats and 92 of 101 (91.1%) samples from feral cats were PCR positive; the positive rate of feces samples was higher than that of saliva samples in both groups. H. felis and H. pylori species-specific PCR was uniformly negative. The prevalence of Helicobacter spp. in feral cats was approximately two-fold higher than that of domestic cats. The fecal-oral route may be more a common transmission route not only between cats but also in humans.
Ghil
Heh-Myung
HM
Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Yoo
Jong-Hyeon
JH
Jung
Woo-Sung
WS
Chung
Tae-Ho
TH
Youn
Hwa-Young
HY
Hwang
Cheol-Yong
CY
D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002415:Cats; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D044922:Helicobacter felis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology; D013045:Species Specificity
D004269:DNA, Bacterial