Clinical, bacteriological and fungal study of Otitis Externa from infected Ears of Dogs and People in Diyala Province

Abstract

Otitis externa is a multifactorial disease that most commonly affects canines and people. It represents a complex disease associated with infections caused by bacteria, yeasts and ectoparasites, which often do not respond to treatments. The goal of this study was to isolate and identify the pathogenic agent, clinical and infection rate of otitis externa in pets' dogs and patients. The study was conducted on (250) samples, represented (100) ear swaps obtained from peoples, (50) from males and (50) swabs obtained from females, while (150) samples obtained from dogs (75) from males and (75) swabs obtained from females. Samples collected from different places in Diyala Province, during the period from first October 2020 to last May 2021. Isolation and identification of isolates were depended on the morphology of the colony on agar used in the study (color and shape) in addition to their odor, and biochemical tests then conducted by VITEK 2 to identify the isolated bacterial species. The infection rate of Otitis externa in people were 76/100 (76%), while from infected dogs 135/150 (90%). The results of bacterial isolates from human samples represented by highest infection rate Staphylococcus spp 20/76 (26.3%), followed by Pseudomonas spp. 16/76 (21%), Proteus spp. 13/76 (17%), E. coli 11/76 (14.5%), Streptococcus spp.10/76 (13%), Klebsiella spp.7/76 (9.2%) and Corynebacterium 1/76 (1.3%). While, from dogs' samples, the highest one was Staphylococcus spp.39/146 (26.7%), followed by Pseudomonas spp. 29/146 (19.9%), Proteus spp. 16/146 (10.9%), Streptococcus spp. and E. coli each 15/146 (10.3%), Klebsiella spp. 11/146 (7.5 %), Pasturella spp. 8/146 (5.5%), corynebacterium 6/146 (4.1%) and Enterobacter 5/146 (3.4%) with significant differences p≤ 0.05. On the other hand, the results referred that samples from human and dogs showed the highest fungal infected was Candida spp. 43/114 (37.7 %) followed by Malassezia spp. 35/114 (30.7 %), Aspergillums spp. 25/114 (21.9 %) and Trichophyton 11/114 (9.7 %) significant differences p≤ 0.05 between fungal isolates in dogs and human. Regarding to the patients and dogs' gender, it was found that males had a tendency to get infection more than females when (98.7%) of dogs were males and (96 %) females. Moreover, the old age groups were most subjected to the infection of Otitis externa than other age groups in infected dogs and humans.