11/136. Canine salmonellosis: A review and report of dog to child transmission of salmonella enteritidis. dogs have been shown to harbor 53 salmonellae serotypes. Multiple simultaneous infections with 2 to 4 serotypes have been observed. The prevalence of canine salmonellosis may be a high as 27 per cent. salmonella typhimurium and S. anatum are the most common etiologic agents. dogs commonly experience a sub-clinical course of salmonellosis. Some investigators state that the dog may serve as a source of human infections. A few reports in the literature have documented this fact. The transmissions of S. enteritidis from dog to child is described in this article. ( info) |
| Visceral leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease that can be transmitted from dogs to humans by a sand-fly vector. Endemic cases of visceral leishmaniasis among dogs in oklahoma, texas, and ohio have been reported. Recent reports of visceral leishmaniasis in Foxhounds in the eastern coastal states has raised new concerns about the importance of this disease in the united states. ( info) |
| OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of trypanosoma cruzi infection among dogs in oklahoma. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. animals: 301 owned or impounded dogs related by ownership or general geographic location to 3 dogs determined to have trypanosomiasis. PROCEDURES: blood samples were obtained from dogs between November 1996 and September 1997. Infection status was determined by use of a radioimmunoprecipitation assay. Second blood samples were obtained from some of the seropositive dogs for study by hemoculture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Sites where infected dogs were found were inspected for triatomine insects, and light traps were used for vector trapping. RESULTS: 11(3.6%) dogs were seropositive for T. cruzi infection. Ten of the 11 were owned rural hunting dogs. Protozoal organisms isolated from the blood of 1 seropositive dog were identified as T. cruzi by PCR testing. Only 1 adult triatoma sanguisuga was captured in a light trap at a site near infected dogs; this insect was not infected. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Our findings suggest that T. cruzi is enzootic in eastern oklahoma. Measures that would reduce the risk of dogs acquiring T. cruzi infection are unlikely to be acceptable to their owners, and no effective drugs are available for treatment. The presence of T. cruzi-infected dogs poses a threat of transmission to persons at risk of exposure to contaminated blood veterinarians who practice in the southern united states should be cognizant of this blood borne zoonosis and educate all personnel about appropriate precautions. ( info) |
14/136. Investigation of an outbreak of endemic coccidioidomycosis in brazil's northeastern state of Piaui with a review of the occurrence and distribution of coccidioides immitis in three other Brazilian states. An outbreak of coccidioidomycosis is described that involved three individuals and eight of their dogs, who had engaged in a successful hunt for nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) in the environs of Oeiras, a community in brazil's north eastern state of Piaui. diagnosis was based on clinical, serological and cultural findings. Four of 24 soil samples collected in and around the burrow of an armadillo yielded cultures of coccidioides immitis, thus establishing the endemicity of that mould in the state of Piaui. A literature review revealed that C. immitis, aside from that state, is endemic in three other Brazilian states--Bahia, Ceara and Maranhao. These four contiguous states have semi-arid regions where climatic conditions and their flora are similar to those that exist in C. immitis's endemic regions in North, Central and south america. ( info) |
15/136. Neonatal sepsis by campylobacter jejuni: genetically proven transmission from a household puppy. We report a case of neonatal campylobacter jejuni sepsis in a 3-week-old infant who acquired the infection through transmission from a recently acquired household puppy. Genotyping of Campylobacter strains obtained from puppy and child resulted in highly homogeneous findings. This represents the first genetically proven C. jejuni dog-human transmission. ( info) |
16/136. First report of a parasitic mite, Leptotrombidium (Hypotrombidium) subquadratum (Lawerence) (acari: trombiculidae: Trombiculinae), from dogs and children in the Bloemfontein area, south africa. Leptotrombidium subqunadratum larvae were collected for the first time in 1994 from dogs in Bloemfontein. The larvae have been collected annually, during the summer months, over a period of 6-7 years. Previously the only known hosts were scrub hare (Lepus saxatilis) (locality unknown) and short-snouted elephant shrew (Elephantulus brachyrhynchus) (Kruger National Park). These mites cause severe itching and dermatitis in humans and dogs. ( info) |
| Nine cases of suspected munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), involving pets as proxies, were identified among 448 cases of non-accidental injury to small animals. These cases, recorded by a random sample of small animal practitioners in the UK, demonstrated several combinations of features, including attention-seeking behaviour by the owner, real and apparently factitious clinical signs, deliberate injury, markedly abnormal biochemical profiles, serial incidents, interference with surgical sites, recovery after separation from the owner, and 'veterinarian-shopping' by the owner. All of these features are consistent with those identified in the well documented MSBP in which children are the victims. Furthermore, one of the cases involved serial attempts at poisoning other animals and a child. ( info) |
18/136. Identification of isolates of streptococcus canis infecting humans. During a survey of Group G and C streptococcal infections of humans two epidemiologically unrelated Group G streptococcal isolates were identified, one from a case of bacteremia and one from a wound infection. These isolates were atypical among this sample in that the emm gene could not be amplified from them by PCR. Biochemical characterization identified the isolates as streptococcus canis, an organism normally associated with animal hosts. The biochemical identification was confirmed by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene from both isolates and comparison with sequences of the S. canis type strain and other related streptococci of animals and humans. Comparative sequencing of fragments of two other housekeeping genes, sodA and mutS, confirmed that the isolates are most closely related to S. canis. The identification of two isolates of S. canis from a relatively small sample set suggests that the practice of identifying streptococci only by the Lancefield serological group may result in underestimation of the presence of S. canis in the human population. ( info) |
19/136. Fibrodysplasia ossificans in a German shepherd dog. Bilateral cervical heterotopic ossification, associated with a thoracic limb lameness, occurred in an adult German shepherd dog. One of the lesions, thought to be the cause of the lameness, was surgically removed and the lameness resolved. The lesion was classified morphologically as fibrodysplasia ossificans. A similar, smaller lesion was present over the cranial distal scapular border. The causes of ectopic ossification, as described in the veterinary literature, are reviewed and compared with myositis ossificans in humans. Non-progressive fibrodysplasia ossificans has been described in cats, but this appears to be the first report in the dog. It is postulated that the heterotopic ossification resulted from the metaplastic change of calcinosis circumscripta lesions. ( info) |
20/136. Rabies surveillance in the united states during 2000. During 2000, 49 states, the district of columbia, and puerto rico reported 7,364 cases of rabies in nonhuman animals and 5 cases in human beings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of 4.3% from 7,067 cases in nonhuman animals reported in 1999. Ninety-three percent (6,855 cases) were in wild animals, whereas 6.9% (509 cases) were in domestic species (compared wth 91.5% in wild animals and 8.5% in domestic species in 1999). Compared with cases reported in 1999, the number of cases reported in 2000 increased among bats, dogs, foxes, skunks, and sheep/goats and decreased among cats, cattle, horses/mules, raccoons, and swine. The relative contributions of the major groups of animals were as follows: raccoons (37.7%; 2,778 cases), skunks (30.2%; 2,223), bats (16.8%; 1,240), foxes (6.2%; 453), cats (3.4%; 249), dogs (1.6%; 114), and cattle (1.1%; 83). Ten of the 19 states where the raccoon-associated variant of the rabies virus has been enzootic reported increases in the numbers of cases of rabies during 2000. Among those states that have engaged in extensive wildlife rabies control programs, no cases of rabies associated with the epizootic of rabies in raccoons (or in any other terrestrial species) were reported in ohio, compared with 6 cases reported in 1999. No rabies cases associated with the dog/coyote variant (compared with 10 cases in 1999, including 5 in dogs) were reported in texas, and cases associated with the gray fox variant of the virus decreased (58 cases in 2000, including 38 among foxes). Reports of rabid skunks exceeded those of rabid raccoons in massachusetts and rhode island, states with enzootic raccoon rabies, for the fourth consecutive year. Nationally, the number of rabies cases in skunks increased by 7.1% from that reported in 1999. The greatest numerical increase in rabid skunks (550 cases in 2000, compared with 192 in 1999) was reported in texas. The number of cases of rabies reported in bats (1,240) during 2000 increased 25.4% over the number reported during 1999 (989) and represented the greatest contribution (16.8% of the total number of rabid animals) ever recorded for this group of mammals. Cases of rabies reported in cattle (83) and cats (249) decreased by 38.5% and 10.4%, respectively, whereas cases in dogs (114) increased by 2.7% over those reported in 1999. Reported cases of rabies among horses and mules declined 20% from 65 cases in 1999 to 52 cases in 2000. Four indigenously acquired cases of rabies reported in human beings were caused by variants of the rabies virus associated with bats. One case of human rabies acquired outside the united states that resulted from a dog bite was caused by the canine variant of the rabies virus. ( info) |