Occurrence of Pasteurella multocida in Dogs Being Trained for Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a non-pharmacological therapy aimed at people with physical and/or mental disabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out interventions that guarantee its benefits for patients while also avoiding the risk of zoonoses due to contact with the animals or their mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-09, Vol.17 (17), p.6385
Main Authors: Santaniello, Antonio, Garzillo, Susanne, Amato, Alessia, Sansone, Mario, Fioretti, Alessandro, Menna, Lucia Francesca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Aged
Animal Assisted Therapy
Animals
Child
Confidence intervals
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Dogs
Epidemiology
Female
Health risks
Humans
Infections
Living conditions
Male
Mouth
Oral cavity
Pasteurella Infections
Pasteurella multocida
Pasteurella multocida - isolation & purification
Pathogens
Questionnaires
Regression analysis
Risk analysis
Risk Assessment
Risk factors
Service Animals - microbiology
Statistical analysis
Zoonoses
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Summary:Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a non-pharmacological therapy aimed at people with physical and/or mental disabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out interventions that guarantee its benefits for patients while also avoiding the risk of zoonoses due to contact with the animals or their mucous membranes. The present study aimed to detect the occurrence of in the oral cavity of dogs attending a "dog educational centre" and training for AAT interventions. In addition, some of the potential predictable factors of infection (i.e., age, sex, breed, and living conditions) were analyzed. In total, 25/200 dogs examined (12.5%; 95% confidence interval = 8.4-18.1%) were positive for , as confirmed by PCR. Sex, breed, and living conditions were risk factors associated with as revealed by the logistic regression analysis. Specifically, cross-bred female dogs living prevalently outdoors were significantly associated with the presence of ( < 0.05). This study represents the first epidemiological survey of the prevalence of in the oral cavity of dogs involved subsequently in AAT interventions, highlighting the potential risk of infection in patients, often belonging to risk categories (e.g., children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals). Therefore, healthcare guidelines could be suggested to integrate the current literature related to the health check of dogs involved in AAT. In this way, it could be ensured that, even with bodily contact during AAT, the risk of pathogen transmission by the co-therapist dog can be avoided.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17176385