Detection of lawsonia intracellularis fecal shedding in dogs in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Lawsonia intracellularis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that is responsible for proliferative enteropathy, an enteric disease endemic in swine and common in foals. However, few studies have investigated this disease in dogs, and there are no reports of dogs infected with L. intracellularis in Latin America. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fecal shedding of L. intracellularis in diarrheic and non-diarrheic dogs in Minas Gerais, Brazil. A total of 58 dogs, 18 apparently healthy and 40 diarrheic, were examined in this study. DNA extracted from feces was analyzed using a nested PCR reaction to detect L. intracellularis. Three out of 40 (7.5%) diarrheic samples, all from 3-month-old puppies, were positive for L. intracellularis. These results highlight the need for additional studies to examine the role of this pathogen as a possible cause of enteric disease in dogs.