Campylobacter spp., C. jejuni and C. upsaliensis infection-associated factors in healthy and ill dogs from clinics in Cordoba, Spain. Screening tests for antimicrobial susceptibility.

A microbiological and epidemiological survey examining Campylobacter species-related infection in dogs from clinics in Cordoba (Southern Spain) was performed from May 2007 to March 2008. Three-hundred and six rectal swabs were taken from both ill and healthy dogs, and an epidemiological questionnaire was filled out. The isolated bacterial strains were identified by means of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The prevalence factors for Campylobacter spp., C. jejuni and C. upsaliensis infection were determined by logistic regression. An antimicrobial susceptibility screening test was performed using the agar disk diffusion method. Campylobacter species were isolated from 102 samples. Forty strains (35.2%) were identified as Campylobacter jejuni, 60 strains (58.8%) as Campylobacter upsaliensis and two strains (2%) as Campylobacter spp. The sampling season was a prevalence factor for C. jejuni infection, while the age of the dog was a prevalence factor for Campylobacter spp. and C. upsaliensis infection. Enteric disease was a prevalence factor for Campylobacter spp., C. jejuni and C. upsaliensis infection. The antimicrobial susceptibility test indicated that gentamicin and erythromycin were the most effective antibiotics, with 97.8% and 88% strains sensitive to the antibiotics, respectively.