Occurrence of Emerging Arcobacter in Dogs and Cats and its Public Health Implications: A Review

| Arcobacter has emerged as one of the leading cause of gastro-enteritis in humans as well as animals, therefore posing a significant public health risk. The most important of the species in associated with human and animal infection is A. butzleri. This is because of the emergence of highly pathogenic and multi-drug resistant Arcobacter strains worldwide. Dogs and cats are considered as a major source of transmission to man, thus facilitating easy transmission of the Arcobacter infection. Stray dogs and cats are the important reservoirs compared to pets which are also implicated in the transmission to humans. Molecular techniques such as Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Multi-locus Sequence Typing Scheme (MLST) has been found to be one of the most robust, accurate and sensitive technique for the detection and characterization of Arcobacter species in dogs and cats. This review focuses on the occurrence and associated risk factors as well as public health significance of Arcobacter in dogs and cats.