An exploratory study of dog park visits as a risk factor for exposure to drug-resistant extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC).

Authors

Lubna N. Ahmed, George Washington University
Lance B. Price, George Washington UniversityFollow
Jay P. Graham, George Washington UniversityFollow

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Journal

BMC Research Notes

Volume

8

Issue

1

Inclusive Pages

137

DOI

10.1186/s13104-015-1103-2

Keywords

Dog Diseases--epidemiology; Escherichia coli Infections--veterinary; Genes, Bacterial; Urinary Tract Infections--veterinary; Uropathogenic Escherichia coli--isolation & purification

Abstract

Background

Extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) are common causative agents of urinary tract infections in humans. Dogs have been found to harbor ExPEC. This study tested stool samples from dogs (n = 16), the shoes of dog park visitors (n = 16) and the shoes of controls (n = 16) for ExPEC. Phenotypic resistance of isolates was characterized.

Findings

ExPEC were present in one-third of the dog stool samples, 9% of the samples from the shoes of dog park visitors and 6% of control samples. Half of the ExPEC isolates were multi-drug resistant.

Discussion

The findings suggest that dogs may be an important source of antibiotic resistant ExPEC.

Comments

Reproduced with permission of BioMed Central. BMC Research Notes.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

APA Citation

Ahmed, L.N., Price, L.B., Graham, J.P. An exploratory study of dog park visits as a risk factor for exposure to drug-resistant extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). BMC Research Notes 8(1): 137. doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1103-2

Peer Reviewed

1

Open Access

1