title: Zoonotic agents in small ruminants kept on city farms in southern Germany.
abstract: Sheep and goats are popular examples of livestock kept on city farms. In these settings, close contacts between humans and animals frequently occur. Although it is widely accepted that small ruminants can carry numerous zoonotic agents, it is unknown which of these agents actually occur in sheep and goats on city farms in Germany. We sampled feces and nasal liquid of 48 animals (28 goats, 20 sheep) distributed in 7 city farms and on one activity playground in southern Germany. We found that 100% of the sampled sheep and 89.3% of the goats carried Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The presence of Staphylococcus spp. in 75% of both sheep and goats could be demonstrated. Campylobacter spp. were detected in 25% and 14.3% of the sheep and goats, respectively. Neither Salmonella spp. nor Coxiella burnetii was found. On the basis of these data, we propose a reasonable hygiene scheme to prevent transmission of zoonotic agents during city farm visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna-Katarina
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hotzel
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Methner
authors.forename: Lisa D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Sprague
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmoock
authors.forename: Hosny
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-Adawy
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ehricht
authors.forename: Anna-Caroline
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wöhr
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erhard
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geue
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002947:Cities; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005858:Germany; D006041:Goats / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000382:microbiology; D012418:Ruminants / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep / Q000382:microbiology; D054323:Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015047:Zoonoses