J Vet Sci.  2009 Mar;10(1):67-72. 10.4142/jvs.2009.10.1.67.

Survey of Helicobacter infection in domestic and feral cats in Korea

• Ghil HM
• Yoo JH
• Jung WS
• Chung TH
• Youn HY
• Hwang CY

• KMID: 1089348
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2009.10.1.67

Abstract

Discovery of Helicobacter (H.) pylori has led to a fundamental change in our understanding of gastric diseases in humans. Previous studies have found various Helicobacter spp. in dogs and cats, and pets have been questioned as a zoonotic carrier. The present study surveyed the Helicobacter infections and investigated the presence of H. felis and H. pylori infections in domestic and feral cats in Korea. Sixty-four domestic cats and 101 feral cats were selected from an animal shelter. Saliva and feces were evaluated by Helicobacter genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genus-specific PCR positive samples were further evaluated for H. felis and H. pylori using specific primer pairs. Thirty-six of 64 (56.3%) samples from domestic cats and 92 of 101 (91.1%) samples from feral cats were PCR positive; the positive rate of feces samples was higher than that of saliva samples in both groups. H. felis and H. pylori species-specific PCR was uniformly negative. The prevalence of Helicobacter spp. in feral cats was approximately two-fold higher than that of domestic cats. The fecal-oral route may be more a common transmission route not only between cats but also in humans.

Keyword

cat; Helicobacter; prevalence; zoonosis

MeSH Terms

Animals
Cat Diseases/*epidemiology
Cats
DNA, Bacterial/genetics
Feces/microbiology
Helicobacter Infections/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary
Helicobacter felis/genetics/isolation & purification
Helicobacter pylori/genetics/isolation & purification
Korea/epidemiology
Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary
Saliva/microbiology
Species Specificity

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 PCR amplication of Helicobacter (H.) spp. genus-specific 16S rRNA gene. DNA molecular weight standard marker (Lane 1), H. felis positive control (ATCC 49179) of DNA product at 400 bps (Lane 2), negative control (Lane 3), feces of feral cats no.92-101 (Lanes 4-13) are shown.

• 

  Fig. 2 PCR amplication of Helicobacter (H.) felis urease B gene fragment. DNA molecular weight standard marker (Lane 1), H. felis positive control (ATCC 49179) of DNA product at 1,150 bps (Lane 2), negative control (Lane 3), feces of domestic cats no. 12, 14, 16 (Lanes 4-6) are shown. All saliva and feces samples of positive Helicobacter genus-specific PCR were H. felis negative.

• 

  Fig. 3 PCR amplication of Helicobacter (H.) pylori urease B gene fragment. DNA molecular weight standard marker (Lane 1), H. pylori positive control of DNA product at 1,707 bps (Lane 2), negative control (Lane 3), feces of feral cats no.71-73 (Lane 4-6) are shown. All saliva and feces samples of positive Helicobacter genus-specific PCR were H. pylori negative.

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