Occurrence of bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in peri-urban wild dogs

Abstract

In Australia, wild dogs (Canis familiaris) are common in peri-urban environments, live within a close distance to houses, and visit household backyards and other public high-use areas such as school grounds and parklands. Wild dogs are known to harbour parasites and their presence within these environments has human-health implications. Bacterial pathogens may also affect human health, but the prevalence and diversity of such pathogens in wild dogs remains poorly studied. We examined the presence bacterial pathogens in peri-urban wild dogs to further understand the potential risks to human health. We collected faecal, whole blood, serum and nasal samples from wild dogs captured during council management programs within northeast New South Wales and southeast Queensland. Microbiological, molecular, and serological methods were used to detect and identify targeted pathogens. The results of this study indicate that carriage of bacterial pathogens by peri-urban wild dogs is less prevalent than parasitic pathogens. However, the presence of ampicillin-resistant bacteria remains of public health concern, as wild dogs may spread microbial resistant genes into the environment. The seroprevalence of C. burnetti suggests that wild dogs may be a reservoir of the pathogen and the detection in faeces suggests that they may be a possible source of Q-fever transmission in Queensland. We conclude that bacterial pathogens carried by peri-urban wild dogs pose potential deleterious impacts to public health. However, studies to further confirm these results are required and specific risk analyses are needed within human habitats, including assessing the associations of wild dog diets and other exposure sources.