Isolation and identification of Enterobacterales present in dog feces in the city of Merida, Yucatan

Abstract

The close coexistence between humans and pets such as dogs has increased the risk of transmission of infectious diseases (zoonoses) caused by Enterobacterales. The ingestion of food and water sources contaminated with animal feces matter constitutes the main mechanism of dissemination of these diseases. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of Enterobacterales in stool samples from domestic and street dogs collected in the city of Mérida, Yucatán. For this, 30 stool samples from canines (15 domestic dogs and 15 street dogs) were collected. The bacterial samples were seed on McConkey agar and salmonella-shigella agar (after enrichment in tetrathionate broth). Likewise, microorganisms were identified by biochemical tests: citrate, MIO, LIA, urea, TSI, catalase and oxidase. The most outstanding findings was a high percentage of dogs infected with Salmonella spp., the animals were of both domestic and street origin. This is alarming given the potential risk of zoonosis for the population.