Value of Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus PCR for Study of Pasteurella multocidaStrains Isolated from Mouths of Dogs

ABSTRACTFifty-six Pasteurella multocidastrains (40 P. multocidasubsp. septicaand 16 P. multocidasubsp. multocidastrains) isolated from the mouths of 56 dogs among the 134 living in a French canine military training center (132e Groupe Cynophile de l’Arme´e de Terre, Suippes, France) were studied by use of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR (ERIC-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) techniques. Both techniques showed genomic heterogeneity of the strains studied. However, RFLP was more discriminatory than ERIC-PCR for differentiating P. multocidastrains. All but three pairs of strains were discriminated by RFLP, suggesting a limited circulation of strains between these dogs living in proximity. Although ERIC-PCR is easier and faster to perform, it cannot be recommended for epidemiological studies of P. multocidastrains.