[Salmonella enteritis in dogs, not relevant?].

In order to shed some light on the different opinions regarding the importance of Salmonella infections in dogs, we gathered some data from our laboratory database. Of the 6589 faecal samples from diarrhoeic dogs examined, 69 (1%) yielded Salmonella spp. Another eleven isolates were cultured from materials other than faeces. If Salmonella spp. can be cultured directly from faeces, this should be interpreted as clinically significant; however, even if the organism is found only after enrichment it may still be a clinical case. Antibiotic therapy is indicated in all dogs that are severely ill or have systemic infection, fluoroquinolones or trimethoprim/sulphonamides being drugs of choice. Double-blind placebo-controlled studies of humans with gastroenteritis have shown that the length of postconvalescent excretion of Salmonella is not affected by antimicrobials. For the elimination of the carrier state, however, fluoroquinolones are successful in human medicine. Salmonellae are zoonotic agents and transmission from dog to man has been reported. This should be taken into account when deciding on antimicrobial therapy. Of our isolates (n = 80), 96% were susceptible to enrofloxacin, 94% to trimethoprim/sulphonamides, 94% to gentamicin, 86% to ampicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, 47% to cephalexin and 63% to tetracycline.