title: First report: Yersinia enterocolitica recovered from canine tonsils.
abstract: Yersinia enterocolitica (Y. enterocolitica) is a known zoonotic pathogen and is often found in pig tonsils as the primary site of colonisation. In this study we investigated whether or not Y. enterocolitica could be recovered from canine tonsils. During a study on the prevalence of Y. enterocolitica in animal populations in Ireland, 144 canine tonsils and 72 canine rectal swabs were procured over a ten-month period and subjected to microbiological examination for the presence of this human pathogen. Molecular methods were used to determine virulence and all strains were negative for the chromosomally mediated virulence factor (ail) and plasmid-encoded adhesion molecule (pYad). Y. enterocolitica was recovered from 25 of 216 (12%) samples. Twenty-four strains were from tonsils along with one from a rectal swab. All were biotype 1A. Antimicrobial resistance profiling showed two of 25 (8%) were resistant to cephalothin and the remaining strains were resistant to ampicillin and cephalothin with six of these additionally resistant to streptomycin. Our evidence that a human pathogen may be harboured in the oral cavity of dogs' adds a new dimension to the epidemiology of this organism, identifying a potential public health risk following exposure to dogs.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Department, Cork County Council, County Hall, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Brenda P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Niall
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Drummond
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ringwood
authors.forename: Edmund
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: Mike B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Prentice
authors.forename: Séamus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanning
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D007494:Ireland; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000382:microbiology*; D012007:Rectum / Q000382:microbiology; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; C069712:Ail protein, Yersinia enterocolitica; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C064832:YadA protein, Yersinia