Epidemiological study of bacterial dermatitis in dogs of Wayanad district

Abstract

A survey was undertaken to determine the epidemiology of bacterial dermatitis in dogs presented at the Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex (TVCC), College of Veterinary and Animal sciences Pookode, from April 2017 to June 2018. Dogs of all age groups, breeds and both sexes with clinical signs of dermatitis were included in the study. Sterile swabs were used to collect samples aseptically from the dogs that showed clinical lesions of canine bacterial dermatitis. Samples were taken for culture and isolation of bacteria was done. There was no statistically significant difference among different age groups, however the highest occurrence was observed among dogs between 1-3 years (39.44 %) and out of 71 animals, 39 (54.93 %t) male dogs were positive for bacterial dermatitis, but no statistically significance among different sexes was observed. Among the various breeds studied, the highest occurrence was noticed in Labrador retrievers (23.94 per cent) when compared to other breeds but no statistically significance difference among different breeds was observed. Identification of bacterial isolates was done based on colony character, Gram’s staining, oxidase test, catalase test, oxidative fermentative test and growth in specific media. A total of 71 bacterial isolates were obtained. Bacterial isolates obtained were Staphylococcus species (84.51 %), Streptococci (7.04%), Micrococci (5.63 %), and Pseudomonas species (2.82 %).

Keywords

• epidemiology
• bacterial dermatitis
• staphylococci
• streptococci
• micrococci
• pseudomonas