Characterization of Bordetella bronchiseptica isolated from rabbits in Fujian, China

Abstract

Bordetellabronchiseptica(B. bronchiseptica)is a potential zoonotic pathogen, which mainly causes respiratory diseasesin humans and a variety ofanimal species. B. bronchisepticais one of the important pathogens isolated from rabbits in Fujian Province. However, the knowledge of the epidemiology and characteristics of the B. bronchisepticain rabbits inFujian province is largely unknown.In thisstudy, 219 B.bronchisepticaisolates recovered from lung samples of dead rabbits with respiratory diseasesin Fujian Provincewere characterizedby multi-locus sequencing typing, screening virulence genes and testing antimicrobial susceptibility.The results showed that the 219 isolates were typed into 11 sequence types (STs) including 5 known STs (ST6, ST10, ST12, ST14 and ST33) and 6 new STs (ST88, ST89, ST90, ST91, ST92 and ST93), and the ST33 (30.14%, 66/219), ST14 (26.94%, 59/219) and ST12 (16.44%, 36/219)were the 3 most prevalent STs.Surprisingly, all the 219 isolates carried the 5 virulence genes(fhaB, prn, cyaA, dntand bteA) in the PCR screening. Moreover, the isolateswere resistantto cefixime, ceftizoxime, cefatriaxone and ampicillinatrates of 33.33%, 31.05%, 11.87%and 3.20%, respectively.This study showedthe genetic diversity of B. bronchisepticain rabbits in Fujian Province, andthe colonization of the human-associated ST12 strain in rabbits in Fujian Province.The results might beuseful for monitoring the epidemic strains, developing preventivemethodsandpreventing the transmission of epidemic strainsfrom rabbits to humans.