Molecular and serological incidences of Bordetella bronchiseptica in pet dogs with urinary infections.

Background: Bordetella bronchiseptica is an important bacterial pathogen that is linked primarily to canine infectious respiratory disease complex and rarely to other health issues, including urinary tract infections.

Aims: This study aimed to molecularly identify B. bronchiseptica in the urine of diseased dogs with urinary infections and to document local isolates in NCBI. The serological prevalence of anti-B. bronchiseptica antibodies in the sera of the study dogs were also assessed.

Methods: A total of 129 pet dogs with urinary tract infections were attended to private clinics in Baghdad province (Iraq) and subjected aseptically to collection of fresh urine and venous blood. Molecular testing of urine samples was performed using the PCR assay, and positive DNA was sequenced, submitted to the NCBI database, and analyzed phylogenetically. Serological testing of sera was performed using ELISA.

Results: Targeting the 16S RNA gene, PCR assay revealed that 13.92% of study dogs were positive. Phylogenetic analysis of study B. bronchiseptica isolates showed the presence of identity with global NCBI-BLAST Chinese B. bronchiseptica strain (NCBI-GenBank ID: MT411887.1) at 94.52%-99.66% as the range of similarity and 0.01%-0.0001% as the range of mutation/changes. Serologically, the prevalence rate of anti-B. bronchiseptica antibodies by ELISA was 32.91%; in which, the mild, moderate, and severe infections occurring in 53.85%, 34.62%, and 11.54% of cases, respectively. Subsequently, the ODs of mild, moderate, and severe seropositive ODs were 0.560 ± 0.011, 0.686 ± 0.009, and 0.769 ± 0.009, respectively.

Conclusion: This study revealed the prevalence of B. bronchiseptica in dogs by molecular testing of urine and serological examination of blood.