High prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in sheperds.

It has been sugge sted that Helicobacter pylori infe ction may, in some instance s, be a zoonosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Sardinian shepherds and their familie s in relation to exposure to she ep and she ep dogs. Sardinian shepherds and a control group of blood donors comple ted detailed que stionnaire s regarding demographics, childhood and current economic status, and the presence of symptoms related to the uppe r gastrointe stinal tract. H. pylori status was determined by a sensitive ELISA for anti-H. pylori IgG and by western blot for anti-CagA IgG. A subgroup of shepherds had uppe r gastrointe stinal endoscopy with biopsy to asse ss the severity of the gastritis. H. pylori infection in Sardinian shepherds approache d 100% and was positive ly related to animal contact (98% of shepherds, 73% of family members without regular dire ct animal contact compared to 43% of blood donors) (P , 0.001) . Importantly, the family members shared the same childhood with the shephe rds but choose different care ers (e.g., teachers, nurse s, busine ss) and did not have regular contact with she ep. In conclusion, the prevalence of H. pylori infe ction in Sardinian shepherds is among the highe st in the world and is associated with dire ct contact with sheep and she ep dogs. The se results sugge st that the cycle of H. pylori infection might, in certain circumstances, include phase s in the environment, animals (she ep or dogs) and human beings.