Bergeyella zoohelcum causes rare but severe human clinical diseases, which mostly arise from animal bites. Notably, Bergeyella infections can also occur in older people after prolonged exposure to dogs or cats without biting. We detected B. zoohelcum in oral cavities of therapy dogs in close contact with older people residing in nursing homes. Twenty‐two bacterial isolates were identified as B. zoohelcum by using matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Our results showed that MALDI‐TOF MS is an effective tool for rapid identification of rarely isolated, difficult‐to‐identify microorganisms, such as B. zoohelcum, derived from not only human clinical samples but also animal samples. To our knowledge, this is the first report on detection of B. zoohelcum from therapy dogs. We have provided information on dog‐assisted therapy to improve the relationship between humans and animals in ageing societies, particularly for preventive healthcare of older people living in nursing care facilities.

中文翻译：

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从治疗犬的口腔中分离出伯氏杆菌zoohelcum。

伯氏杆菌动物疫病可引起罕见但严重的人类临床疾病，其中大部分是动物咬伤引起的。值得注意的是，长时间接触狗或猫而不咬人后，老年人也可发生贝氏杆菌感染。我们在与居住在养老院的老年人密切接触的治疗犬的口腔中检测到了B. zoohelcum。通过使用基质辅助激光解吸电离飞行时间质谱（MALDI-TOF MS）和16S rRNA基因测序，鉴定出22个细菌分离物为兽疫双歧杆菌。我们的结果表明，MALDI-TOF MS是一种快速鉴定很少分离，难以鉴定的微生物（如兽疫双歧杆菌）的有效工具。不仅来源于人类临床样品，还来源于动物样品。据我们所知，这是关于从治疗犬中检测到兽疫双歧杆菌的首次报道。我们提供了有关狗辅助治疗的信息，以改善老龄化社会中人与动物之间的关系，特别是对住在护理机构中的老年人的预防性保健。