Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), porA and flaA typing of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from cats attending a veterinary clinic

Vathsala MohanEmail author View ORCID ID profile and
Ihab Habib

BMC Research Notes201912:76

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-019-4107-5

Received: 5 July 2018
Accepted: 31 January 2019
Published: 4 February 2019

Abstract

Objective

Campylobacter is a major cause of gastroenteritis in humans and pet ownership is a risk factor for infection. To study the occurrence, species distribution and sequence-based types of Campylobacter spp. in pet cats, 82 faecal samples were collected from cats in New Zealand. The PCR positive samples of Campylobacter jejuni were characterized by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), major outer membrane protein gene (porA) and flagellin A gene (flaA) sequence typing.

Results

Seven faecal samples were tested positive for Campylobacter spp. (9%, or 4–17% at 95% confidence interval), of which six were identified as C. jejuni, and one was C. upsaliensis. The six C. jejuni isolates were characterised by MLST; four belonged to ST-45 clonal complex and two of the isolates could not be typed. Two flaA-SVR types were identified: three samples were flaA-SVR type 8 and one belonged to 239. By combining all data, three isolates were indistinguishable with allelic combinations of ST-45, flaA-SVR 8, porA 44, although no epidemiological connection between these isolates could be established. To conclude, healthy cats can carry C. jejuni, whose detected genetic diversity is limited. The isolated sequence type ST-45 is frequently reported in human illnesses.