ISOLATION OF CAMPYLOBACTER-JEJUNI FROM DOGS WITH DIARRHEA

Thermophilic Campylobacter jejuni has been considered as a possible etiologic agent of diarrhea in dogs, but data presented in most reports are conflicting. To assess the role of C. jejuni as an enteropathogen, fecal samples from healthy and from diarrheic dogs were analysed and attempts to isolate the microorganism were made. Seventeen strains of C. jejuni biotype 1 were isolated from 100 fecal samples; eleven out of fifty-nine diarrheic feces and six out of forty-one non-diarrheic feces were positive for that microorganisms. The isolation rate was higher in dogs up to six months of age. There was no difference between the isolation rate from diarrheic and non-diarrheic dogs. It has not been possible to imput Campylobacter as the main pathogen in dogs with diarrhea, since 70% of positive cultures for this bacterium showed another enteropathogenic agent concomitantly. Independently of being or not the etiological agent of diarrheal disease in dogs, we must emphasize the role of this animal as a possible source of infection to human beings.