Pathogenic strains of Yersinia enterocolitica isolated from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) belonging to farmers are of the same subtype as pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains isolated from humans and may be a source of human infection in Jiangsu Province, China.
We isolated 326 Yersinia enterocolitica strains from 5,919 specimens from patients with diarrhea at outpatient clinics, livestock, poultry, wild animals, insect vectors, food, and the environment in the cities of Nantong and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, China, from 2004 to 2008. The results showed that the 12 pathogenic strains were of the O:3 serotype. Six strains were isolated from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) belonging to farmers and were found to be the primary carriers of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains, especially in Xuzhou. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of the pathogenic strains from dogs belonging to farmers showed that they shared the same patterns as strains from diarrhea patients isolated in 1994. This indicates that the strains from domestic dogs have a close correlation with the strains causing human infections.
Wang
Xin
X
National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, P.O. Box 5, Changping 102206, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Cui
Zhigang
Z
Wang
Hua
H
Tang
Liuying
L
Yang
Jinchuan
J
Gu
Ling
L
Jin
Dong
D
Luo
Longze
L
Qiu
Haiyan
H
Xiao
Yuchun
Y
Xiong
Haiping
H
Kan
Biao
B
Xu
Jianguo
J
Jing
Huaiqi
H
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000382:microbiology; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000382:microbiology; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D012703:Serotyping; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*