Investigation of prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in pet dogs and cats in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Although salmonellosis is considered to be a foodborne zoonotic disease, pets can play a significant role in the dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella organisms to humans because of close contact with their owners. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence, risk factors, virulence factors, serotypes, and antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella in pet dogs and cats in Turkey and to assess the public health risk. Furthermore, to perform macroscopic comparison of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in Salmonella-positive and Salmonella-negative animals. METHODS: International Standards Organization (ISO) 6579-1:2017 and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) methods were used to compare the effectiveness of culture methods in the identification of Salmonella in 348 rectal swabs. Positive isolates were serotyped using the slide agglutination method according to the White-Kauffmann-Le Minor scheme and the presence of virulence genes (invA and stn) were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antimicrobial activity was tested by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. RESULTS: Salmonella prevalence was 5.73% (9/157) in dogs and 0.0% (0/191) in cats. Eight (8/9) isolates were cultured with the ISO method and 5 (5/9) isolates were cultured with the FDA method. Macroscopic results revealed that Salmonella agents had no effect on LAB. Three different serotypes were detected and all isolates were positive for virulence genes. Antibiotic resistance profiling indicated that 11.1% of the isolates were MDR and the highest resistance was found for ciprofloxacin. MDR-resistant S. Virchow and carbapenem-resistant S. Enteritidis were detected from dog isolates. There was a significant difference between raw meat consumption and Salmonella carriage (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Dogs could be potential carriers of Salmonella infection. The isolation of Salmonella in healthy dogs instead of dogs suffering from diarrhoea indicates that attention should be paid to asymptomatic carriage. The emergence of resistance among zoonotic Salmonella isolates poses a significant threat to public health.

Comparison of the endocrinological and immunological results of different induction of parturition methods in ewes.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare different induction of partu -rition (IP) methods in terms of endocrinological and immunological parameters in ewes and lambs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 24 ewes and their respective 24 lambs were studied. Groups of six ewes were induced on the 138th day: groups I (control), II (dexamethasone), III (aglepristone) and IV (aglepristone + dexamethasone). Blood samples were taken from the ewes from IP to 2 days postpartum at 12-hour intervals for the prolactin and oxytocin analyses. Colostrum and blood samples were collected from the lambs at 0, 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours for the IgG analysis. The prolactin, oxytocin and IgG levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: A significant difference was found in prolactin levels in all groups and in the colostral IgG level in group IV with respect to the sampling time. Additionally, a significant difference in prolactin level was found at 24 hours postpartum between group IV and groups I and III. A significant difference in the colostral IgG level was determined at 24 hours after parturition between group III and the other groups and at 48 hours after parturition between groups II and III. A positive and significant correlation between the colostral and serum IgG levels of the lambs was found at 24 hours in groups I and II. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although varying individual results were found within the groups, the endocrinological and immunological results did not suggest any superiority among the IP methods. Considering the presented study results, a single dose of aglepristone may be used alone or in combination with dexamethasone for I P.