Fecal prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in house dogs in Lebanon: A pilot study

Vet World Vol.16 November-2023 Article-10

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(11): 2250-2255

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.2250-2255

Ghassan Ghssein^1,2, Rana Barakat^1,2, Nada Nehme³, Rana Awada¹, and Hussein F. Hassan⁴

1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
2. Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Islamic University of Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon.
3. Department of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, Lebanese University, Dekwaneh, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon.
4. Department of Natural Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon.

Background and Aim: Campylobacter spp. are Gram-negative bacilli that are widely recognized as a primary cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Campylobacteriosis is the disease caused by this pathogen. Recently, greater attention has been given to the prevalence of campylobacteriosis in different animals, including pets. These animals are considered to be significant reservoirs for this zoonosis. In Lebanon, the occurrence of Campylobacter infection is high. Our first-of-its-kind pilot study in Lebanon aimed to estimate the fecal prevalence of Campylobacter species in house dogs.

Materials and Methods: Thirty-five rectal swabs were collected from male and female house dogs of different ages, both with or without diarrhea. Samples obtained from the dogs were subjected to qualitative microbiological culture testing and molecular diagnosis by polymerase chain reaction assays after bacterial DNA extraction.

Results: Fecal prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in house dogs in this study was 17%. There was a relatively higher prevalence among young females and a significant difference between healthy dogs and those suffering from diarrhea.

Conclusion: Campylobacteriosis was found to be prevalent among house dogs in Lebanon, making them potential carriers of Campylobacter species. Keywords: Campylobacter, fecal prevalence, house dogs, Lebanon, polymerase chain reaction.

Keywords: Campylobacter, fecal prevalence, house dogs, Lebanon, polymerase chain reaction.

How to cite this article: Ghssein G, Barakat R, Nehme N, Awada R, and Hassan HF (2023) Fecal prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in house dogs in Lebanon: A pilot study, Veterinary World, 16(11): 2250–2255.

Received: 29-07-2023 Accepted: 12-10-2023 Published online: 11-11-2023

Corresponding author: Hussein F. Hassan and Rana Awada E-mail: Hussein.hassan@lau.edu.lb and awada-rana@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.2250-2255

Copyright: Ghssein, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.