PCR detection of Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli in human faeces.

Previously-developed PCR protocols specific for the 16S rRNA gene of the intestinal spirochaetes Brachyspira aalborgi and Brachyspira pilosicoli were adapted for the detection of these species in human faeces, following DNA extraction and purification using mini-prep columns. The limits of detection in seeded faeces for B. aalborgi and B. pilosicoli respectively were 2x10(2) and 7x10(3) cells per PCR reaction, equivalent to 5x10(4) and 1x10(5) cells per g of faeces. The PCR techniques were applied to faecal samples from two patients with histological evidence of intestinal spirochaetosis. In the first patient, in whom B. aalborgi had been identified by 16S rDNA PCR from colonic biopsies, a positive amplification for B. aalborgi only was obtained from the faeces. The organism could not be isolated from these faeces. In the second patient, both colonic biopsies and faeces were PCR positive for B. pilosicoli only, and B. pilosicoli was isolated from the faeces. These new faecal PCR protocols should be valuable for future studies on the epidemiology of intestinal spirochaete infections in human populations, particularly as it is not currently possible to isolate B. aalborgi from faeces.

A survey of urban pet ownership in Bali.

A personal interview survey was conducted to determine the type and characteristics of the animals kept by 200 households in a traditional Balinese community in Denpasar, Indonesia. Fifty-seven per cent of the households owned an animal. One or more birds were kept by 45.2 per cent of households, dogs were owned by 39 per cent, cats by 18.5 per cent and some other sort of animal was owned by 4.5 per cent of households. Chickens were the most commonly kept bird (29.5 per cent of households) followed by cuckoos (10.5 per cent) and doves (8.5 per cent). More cats were kept in households with cats (average of 1.5) than dogs in the households with dogs (1.32. More male dogs and cats (85 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively) were kept than females. Only 11 per cent of the female dogs were neutered compared with 44 per cent of males and no female cats were neutered compared with 9.5 per cent of males. This low level of neutering accounted for the finding that 69 and 78 per cent of the entire bitches and queens had had litters in the 12 months preceding the survey.