%0 Journal Article
%T Genotypic characterisation and cluster analysis of Campylobacter jejuni isolates from domestic pets, human clinical cases and retail food
%A Els Acke
%A Cyril Carroll
%A Aoife O'Leary
%A Kevina McGill
%A Lorraine Kelly
%A Amanda Lawlor
%A Robert H Madden
%A Lynn Moran
%A Pam Scates
%A Eleanor McNamara
%A John E Moore
%A Boyd R Jones
%A Seamus Fanning
%A Paul Whyte
%J Irish Veterinary Journal
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/2046-0481-64-6
%X A major source of Campylobacter infections in humans is the handling or consumption of contaminated meat, especially poultry. Other risk factors for infection include ingestion of contaminated dairy products (for example unpasteurised milk), drinking contaminated water, contact with pets, foreign travel, and swimming in natural sources of water [1-3]. It is estimated that C. jejuni accounts for approximately 80-95% of all enteric Campylobacter infections in humans, with C. coli, C. lari, C. upsaliensis and C. fetus less commonly isolated [4,5]. Many questions on the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. remain unanswered due to the high degree of genetic diversity observed in Campylobacter spp. populations [6,7], the low number of isolates in which speciation and subtyping is performed [8], the under reporting of cases because of the self-limiting nature of Campylobacter infections in most individuals [9], and the fact that most cases of human campylobacteriosis are sporadic as opposed to large outbreaks [10]. Contact with pets has been recognised as a risk factor for campylobacteriosis in humans [1,11,12]. Pets have been shown to be carriers of Campylobacter spp. with C. upsaliensis, C. jejuni and C. helveticus the predominant species isolated [13-16]. Although C. upsaliensis was the most commonly isolated Campylobacter spp. from household pets in Ireland with a prevalence of 65%, C. jejuni was also frequently isolated (22.5%) [16]. Wolfs et al. [17] reported the first genetically proven case of C. jejuni transmission between pets and humans in a 3-week-old infant who acquired the infection from a recently obtained household puppy with diarrhoea. Damborg et al. [18] reported the occurrence of identical C. jejuni strains in a 2-year-old girl and her dog in Denmark confirmed by PFGE. With reported Campylobacter spp. isolation rates of up to 87% and 75% in dogs and cats respectively in Ireland [15,16], pets could play a substantial role in the epidemiology of campylobact
%U http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/64/1/6