Gut microbiome disruption in free-roaming cats: Do antibiotics reduce or restructure zoonotic risk?

ABSTRACT: Free-roaming cats are abundant in many urban ecosystems but pose significant public health and ecological risks as potential reservoirs of potential zoonotic pathogens. This study examined the gut microbiome of free-roaming cats in urban green spaces in Beijing, China, focusing on microbial diversity and potential zoonotic pathogen prevalence. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and the MBPD zoonotic pathogen detection pipeline, we identified multiple opportunistic zoonotic bacterial pathogens, including Clostridium perfringens, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Enterobacter cloacae, Aeromonas veronii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Streptococcus salivarius (including ESKAPE pathogens). Antibiotic treatm

SUBMITTER: Xie A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12446197 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature