Diaz-Campos, D. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

The in vitro bacterial viability and microbial composition of commercially available canine and feline fecal microbial transplantation products

Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) is the transfer of feces from a healthy donor into the gastrointestinal tract of a diseased recipient to confer a health benefit. FMT is increasingly utilized in veterinary medicine and is offered commercially by AnimalBiomeTM. This study aims to quantitate the colony forming units per gram (CFU/g) in lyophilized AnimalBiomeTM FMT products compared to fresh and lyophilized in-house FMT; and to evaluate microbial compositions across multiple FMT products. FMT products were cultured in aerobic and anaerobic environments. 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing (V4 region) was performed on FMT products and colonies taken from FMT cultures. Three lots each of AnimalBiomeTM DoggyBiomeTM (DB), DoggyBiomeTM from raw fed dogs (DBR), and KittyBiomeTM (KB) were evaluated. Freshly processed stool from screened donors enrolled in The Ohio State University Companion Animal Fecal Bank (CAFB) were used as controls. Freshly processed feces yielded significantly greater total CFU/g compared to all lyophilized products (dogs, P<0.01; cats, P<0.01). KB and feline CAFB lyophilized products exhibited comparable viability (P=0.14). Canine CAFB lyophilized FMT yielded significantly greater CFU/g than DB (P=0.17) and DBR (P=0.018). Each donor has a unique microbial profile (PERMANOVA; dogs, P=0.001; cats, P=0.03). DBR FMT products have a significantly greater abundance of Enterobacteriaceae compared to other canine products (P<0.01); however, no AnimalBiomeTM product showed detectable growth of Gram-negative microbes. These findings will provide evidence for practitioners when choosing FMT products for their patients. Further research is needed to determine the impact of FMT processing on engraftment and clinical outcome.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Ohio's wildlife, companion, and agricultural animals

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in humans in late 2019 and spread rapidly to become a global pandemic. A zoonotic spillover event from animal to human was identified as the presumed origin. Subsequently, reports began emerging regarding spillback events resulting in SARS-CoV-2 infections in multiple animal species. These events highlighted critical links between animal and human health while also raising concerns about the development of new reservoir hosts and potential viral mutations that could alter virulence and transmission or evade immune responses. Characterizing susceptibility, prevalence, and transmission between animal species became a priority to help protect animal and human health. In this study, we coalesced a large team of investigators and community partners to surveil for SARS-CoV-2 in domestic and free-ranging animals around Ohio between May 2020 and August 2021. We focused on species with known or predicted susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, highly congregated or medically compromised animals (e.g. shelters, barns, veterinary hospitals), and animals that had frequent contact with humans (e.g. pets, agricultural animals, zoo animals, or animals in wildlife hospitals). This included free-ranging deer (n=76), mink (n=57), multiple species of bats (n=65), and other wildlife in addition to domestic cats (n=275) and pigs (n= 184). In total, we tested 800 animals (34 species) via rRT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was not detected in any of the tested animals despite a major peak in human SARS-CoV-2 cases that occurred in Ohio subsequent to the peak of animal samplings. Importantly, due to lack of validated tests for animals, we did not test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in this study, which limited our ability to assess exposure. While the results of this study were negative, the surveillance effort was critical and remains key to understanding, predicting, and preventing re-emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in humans or animals.

microbiology↗