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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2009, p. 3466-3471, Vol. 47, No. 11
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.01046-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Typing of Campylobacter jejuni Isolates from Dogs by Use of Multilocus Sequence Typing and Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis 
B. N. Parsons,1*
A. J. Cody,4
C. J. Porter,1
J. H. Stavisky,1
J. L. Smith,2
N. J. Williams,1
A. J. H. Leatherbarrow,2,
C. A. Hart,3
R. M. Gaskell,1
K. E. Dingle,5,6 and
S. Dawson2
Small Animal Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Groups, Departments of Veterinary Pathology,1 Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Leahurst, Chester High Road, Neston CH64 7TE, United Kingdom,2 Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GA, United Kingdom,3 Tinbergen Building, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom,4 Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Oxford University, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom,5 National Institute for Health Research, Oxford Biomedical Research Centre Programme, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom6
Received 28 May 2009/ Returned for modification 3 August 2009/ Accepted 20 September 2009
Campylobacter is a major cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Risk of Campylobacter infection in humans has been associated with many sources, including dogs. This study aimed to investigate whether C. jejuni carried by dogs could potentially be a zoonotic risk for humans and if there were common sources of C. jejuni infection for both humans and dogs. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) together with macrorestriction analysis of genomic DNA using SmaI and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were both used to analyze 33 C. jejuni isolates obtained from various dog populations, including those visiting veterinary practices and from different types of kennels. MLST data suggested that there was a large amount of genetic diversity between dog isolates and that the majority of sequence types found in isolates from these dogs were the same as those found in isolates from humans. The main exception was ST-2772, which was isolated from four samples and could not be assigned to a clonal complex. The most commonly identified clonal complex was ST-45 (11 isolates), followed by ST-21 (4 isolates), ST-508 (4 isolates), and ST-403 (3 isolates). The profiles obtained by macrorestriction PFGE were largely in concordance with the MLST results, with a similar amount of genetic diversity found. The diversity of sequence types found within dogs suggests they are exposed to various sources of C. jejuni infection. The similarity of these sequence types to C. jejuni isolates from humans suggests there may be common sources of infection for both dogs and humans. Although only a small number of household dogs may carry C. jejuni, infected dogs should still be considered a potential zoonotic risk to humans, particularly if the dogs originate from kennelled or hunt kennel dog populations, where the prevalence may be higher.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The University of Liverpool, Dept. Veterinary Pathology, Leahurst, Chester High Road, Neston, South Wirral CH64 7TE, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 0151 794 6012. Fax: 44 0151 794 6005. E-mail: b.n.parsons{at}liv.ac.uk
Published ahead of print on 30 September 2009.
Present address: Wythenshawe Hospital, Southmoor Road, Wythenshawe, Manchester, Greater Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2009, p. 3466-3471, Vol. 47, No. 11
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.01046-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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