A survey assessing the prevalence of in-hospital violence against veterinary nurses working in small animal hospitals.

Background: In recent years, due to a strong concern about this issue, many studies have been conducted on in-hospital violence directed at medical personnel working in the field of human medicine. However, no such survey has been conducted in veterinary medicine to date. Veterinary nurses play an important role in small animal hospitals. This study aimed to investigate whether in-hospital violence occurred against veterinary nurses in small animal hospitals. Aim: We conducted a questionnaire survey among veterinary nurses working in small animal hospitals to assess their experience of being subjected to in-hospital violence (verbal and physical). Methods: The target period for this survey was 1 year before the completion of the questionnaire. A total of 134 nurses gave their consent to participate in this survey, and 126 survey responses were included in the final analysis (valid response rate: 94.0%). Incomplete responses were excluded from the analysis. Results: It was seen that 51 people (40.5%) reported having experienced incidents of verbal or physical violence or sexual harassment. Conclusion: Based on these results, we suggest measures that will help ensure that the staff can provide veterinary care without worrying about their safety and well-being.

Anti-microbial resistance of Salmonella isolates from raw meat-based dog food in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Salmonella contamination of raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) for pets poses a major public health concern but has not been investigated in Japan. OBJECTIVE: To investigate Salmonella contamination in RMBDs for dogs marketed in Japan and the anti-microbial resistance profiles of the Salmonella isolates. METHODS: Sixty commercial RMBD samples were collected in the Okayama and Osaka Prefectures, Japan, between December 2016 and March 2017. The obtained Salmonella isolates were serotyped, their anti-microbial resistance patterns were determined, and the anti-microbial-resistant isolates were screened for the presence of resistance genes by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica was detected in seven of the 60 RMBD samples. Among them, five isolates were identified as S. Infantis (n = 3), S. Typhimurium (n = 1) and S. Schwarzengrund (n = 1), while the serotypes of two isolates were unable to be identified. All isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, cefazolin, cefotaxime and gentamycin. Two isolates were resistant to more than one anti-microbial agent; one of the S. Infantis isolates was resistant to streptomycin, kanamycin, tetracycline and trimethoprim, while the S. Typhimurium isolate was resistant to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. The S. Schwarzengrund isolate was resistant to tetracycline. Additionally, the S. Typhimurium isolate harboured the anti-microbial resistance gene gyrA with a mutation corresponding to Ser-83→Phe amino acid substitution. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that RMBDs for dogs marketed in Japan can be a potential source of Salmonella infection for dogs and humans including infections caused by quinolone-resistant isolates.