Campylobacter

• Campylobacter

  • Gram-negative, slender, curved rods
  • Motile (single, unsheathed polar flagellum) - darting motility
  • Microaerophilic (requiring an atmosphere of 5-10% Oxygen and 1-10% CO2)
  • Some species are thermophilic, growing best at 42°C
  • Oxidase-positive, with variable Catalase reactions
  • Most species grow on MacConkey agar
  • Enhanced growth on enriched media
• Campylobacter are very labile and are destroyed quickly by heating, drying, exposure to the atmosphere
• Sources/Reservoir of Campylobacter

  • Commensals on the mucosa of the oral cavity and intestinal tract
  • Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis - prepuce of bulls and in the genital tract of cows
• Virulence Factors of Campylobacter

  • Lipo-oligosaccharides and Lipopolysaccharides - Potent endotoxin, Serum resistance, adhesion
  • Flagella - Play role in adhesion, in addition to motility
  • Adhesin
  • Cytotoxin
  • Heat-labile toxin - Similar to E.coli virulence factors
  • Microcapsule or S layer - high molecular weight proteins arranged in a lattice formation; confers resistance to serum-mediated destruction and phagocytosis and enhances survival in the genital tract
• Microbial Examination

  1. Direct Microscopy - Gram stain, MZN stain, DCF stain

  2. Growth characteristics

  3. Incubated at 37°C for 4-6 days in a microaerophilic atmosphere containing 6% 02, 10% CO2 and 84% N2

  4. Incubated at 42°C for 2-3 days in a microaerophilic atmosphere containing 6% 02, 10% CO2 and 84% N2
• Biochemical tests

  • Susceptibility or Resistance to Nalidixic acid or cephalothin
  • Hydrogen sulphide production
  • Nitrate reduction
  • Catalase reaction
  • Na Hippurate hydrolysis - C. jejuni
• Campylobacter jejuni

  AVIAN CAMPYLOBACTER INFECTION (AVIAN VIBRIONIC HEPATITIS)
• Host

  • Poultry, free-living birds
  • Chicken and Turkey - asymptomatic, primary source of infection for humans
• Transmission

  • Feco-oral transmission (birds harbor the organism in their intestinal tract, shed to feces)
  • Vertical transmission (either on surface of the egg or by transovarial transmission)
• Diagnosis


  • History and Clinical signs and lesions (severely affected birds are listless and lose condition; they may be hemorrhages and multifocal necrosis in the liver)
  • Microscopy and Bacterial cultures (fecal droppings)
  • Agar Gel Immunodiffusion, Complement Fixation test, ELISA, Serotyping
• Treatment and Prevention

  • Treatment of poultry flocks is not of consideration
  • Aviaries - Erythromycin
• Campylobacter fetus ssp. venerealis

  BOVINE GENITAL CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS
• Host


  • Cattle
• Transmission

  Venereal transmission, artificial insemination using contaminated semen
• Diagnosis

  • History and Clinical signs and lesions (temporary infertility associated with embryonic death, mucopurulent endometritis, irregular estrus cycles, repeat breeding)
  • Microscopy and Bacterial cultures (vaginal or cervicovaginal mucus from females; preputial mucus or smegma; fetal abomasal contents)
  • Vaginal mucus agglutination test, ELISA, PCR
• Treatment and Prevention

  • Parenteral or intrauterine administration of antibiotic (Dihydrostreptomycin)
  • Vaccination
• Campylobacter fetus ssp. fetus or Campylobacter jejuni

  OVINE GENITAL CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS
• Host


  • Sheep
• Transmission

  • Feco-oral route or ingestion of contaminated food
  • C. fetus ssp. fetus - feces of cattle and sheep
  • C. jejuni - feces of a wide range of birds and mammals
• Diagnosis


  • History and Clinical signs (metritis, necrotic placentitis developed along with the infection of the fetus, which often results to resorption or abortion)
  • Lesions (round, necrotic lesions in diameter with pale raised rims and dark depressed centers are evident on the liver surface in some aborted lambs)
  • Microscopy and Bacterial cultures
• Treatment and Prevention

  • Isolation of affected animal from the herd
  • Chlortetracycline administered daily in the feed - control outbreaks of abortion
• Campylobacter fetus sbsp fetus

  Ovine Genital Campylobacteriosis

  Sheep