Campylobacter and Helicobacter species

● Slender, curved, Gram - negative rods in gull - winged shapes and spiral forms

● Motile, microaerophilic

● Most species grow on MacConkey agar

● Enhanced growth on enriched media

● Non-fermentative, oxidase-positive with variable catalase reactions

● Commensals of the intestinal tract and sometimes of the reproductive tract

● Pathogens in the reproductive and intestinal tracts

Campylobacter and Helicobacter species

○ slender, curved, motile Gram-negative rods

○ Size is 0.2 to 0.5 micrometers wide

○ Possess polar flagella, which contribute to motility

○ When daughter cells remain joined, they form a gull-winged appearance

○ Long spirals may form when multiple cells remain connected

Campylobacter

Species of Veterinary Importance:

■ Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis

■ Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus

■ Campylobacter jejuni subspecies jejuni (referred to as C. jejuni)

Previously classified under the genus _____, and the term vibriosis is still used for diseases they cause.

■ Some have been assigned to the genus _____. Their pathogenicity is not clearly determined, includes more than 30 described species

■ ______ is an established human pathogen within related organisms

Vibrio

Arcobacter

Helicobacter pylori

colonize the intestines of birds

Leads to fecal contamination of watercourses and stored food

C. jejuni and C. lari

is adapted mainly to the bovine preputial mucosa

C. fetus subspecies venerealis

Primary isolation medium of Campylobacter

Selective enriched media such as ______

Skirrow agar

have small, round, smooth, translucent colonies with a dewdrop appearance.

Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis and

C. fetus subspecies fetus

produces small, flat, grey colonies with a spreading, watery appearance.

Campylobacter jejuni

■ Used in PulseNet International

■ Enables global comparison of outbreak strains

■ Supports tracking of foodborne infection sources

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE)

Catalase Positive species

C. fetus subsp. venerealis

C. fetus subsp. fetus

C. jejuni subsp. jejuni

C. lari

C. coli

C. hyointestinalis

Catalase negative species

C. mucosalis

C. sputorum biovar Sputorum

A. Susceptibility to Nalidixic acid b:

B. Resistant to Nalidixic acid b:

C. Variable to Nalidixic acid b:

A. C. jejuni subsp. jejuni and C. coli

B. C. fetus subsp. venerealis, C. lari, C. hyointestinalis, C. mucosalis, C. sputorum biovar Sputorum

C. C. fetus subsp. fetus

A. Susceptibility to Cephalothin b

B. Resistant to Cephalothin b

A. C. fetus subsp. venerealis, C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. hyointestinalis, C. mucosalis, C. sputorum biovar Sputorum

B. C. jejuni subsp. jejuni and C. coli, C. lari

Composed of high-molecular-weight proteins arranged in a lattice

■ Resists serum-mediated killing

■ Protects against phagocytosis

■ Enhances survival in the genital tract

S layer (microcapsule)

Major outer membrane protein acts as an _____

adhesin

■ Encodes adhesion to fibronectin

■ Supports attachment to host cells

cadF gene

Has Cell invasion and intracellular behavior

○ Binds to epithelial cells via adhesion proteins

○ Internalized into epithelial cells

○ Replicates within membrane-bound intracellular compartments

○ Released via exocytosis at the basolateral surface

C. jejuni

■ Toxin that is present in C. jejuni and C. fetus

■ Pathogenic role confirmed in C. jejuni

Cytolethal distending toxin (CDT)

Host specificity and genetic adaptation

○ Exhibits strong tropism for the bovine host

○ Contains a unique genomic island

■ Encodes _________ components

■ Likely acquired as a mobile genetic element

C. fetus subsp. venerealis

Type IV secretion system

○ Most pathogenic species grow optimally at ____

○ Campylobacter jejuni requires:

■ Incubation up to _____

■ Optimal growth at _____

37°C

5 days

42°C

Smears from cultures and clinical specimens are stained using ______ for 4 minutes

Provides more intense staining than Gram stain

Improves visualization of organisms

dilute carbol fuchsin (DCF)

● Caused mainly by Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis, transmitted during coitus by asymptomatic carrier bulls.

● Bulls act as long-term reservoirs because the organism survives indefinitely in the glandular crypts of the prepuce.

● Infected cows develop temporary infertility

● irregular return to estrus and occasionally leads to sporadic abortion

● Organism persists in the vagina

Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis

_______ limits spread of infection at mucosal level

_______ promotes opsonization and enhances phagocytosis by neutrophils and mononuclear cells

Vaginal igA

Uterina igG

○ An enteric variant acquired by ingestion

○ Causes sporadic abortion rather than herd infertility syndrome

Campylobacter fetus sub. fetus

_____ detects about 50% of infected infertile cows

______detects IgA antibodies in vaginal mucus, especially after abortion

Vaginal mucus agglutination test

ELISA

is a non-pathogenic commensal occasionally isolated from bulls

Campylobacter sputorum biovar sputorum

Treatment and control of Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis

○ Treatment in bulls

■ _______ administered systemically or intra-preputially targets infection

○ Treatment in cows

■ Intrauterine______ may reduce infection but does not clear vaginal or cervical colonization

Dihydrostreptomycin

Caused by Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus or Campylobacter jejuni

Ovine Genital Campylobacteriosis

○_____ is commonly found in feces of cattle and sheep

○_____ is widely distributed in feces of birds and many mammals

○_____ has become increasingly important in ovine abortion cases in many countries

○ Tetracycline-resistant C. jejuni clones have emerged and may be widespread in some regions

C. fetus subsp. fetus

C. jejuni

Vaccination of OGC

■ ______ reduces abortion rates after confirmation

Antimicrobial control

■ ______ in feed may be used during outbreaks

C. fetus subsp. fetus bacterin

Chlortetracycline

Campylobacter species have been associated with diarrhea in dogs and other domestic animals

Intestinal campylobacteriosis in dogs

● Treatment considerations for Intestinal Campylobacteriosis

_____ can eliminate fecal shedding but is discouraged due to quinolone resistance concerns and its importance in human medicine.

_____ is the preferred treatment when therapy is needed.

Enrofloxacin

Erythromycin

● Caused mainly by Campylobacter jejuni, sometimes Campylobacter coli

● Birds are common intestinal reservoirs

○ Organisms colonize the intestinal tract

Avian Vibrionic Hepatitis

○ Campylobacter jejuni is the main cause of human intestinal campylobacteriosis

○ Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter lari may also be involved

Intestinal Campylobacteriosis in Humans

Gram-negative, helical to curved or S-shaped rods, measuring

about 3.0 × 0.5 to 0.9 μm, and are closely related to Campylobacter and Arcobacter species.

● Microaerophilic organisms

● non-saccharolytic,

● oxidase-positive

● usually catalase-positive

● some species can grow on Skirrow's agar

Helicobacter

Helicobacter catalase negative

H. canis

Gastric colonizers show a _______, which helps them survive in acidic stomach environments by producing ammonia

strong urease reaction

■ Slightly curved shape

■ Major human pathogen associated with gastric ulcers, gastric

adenocarcinoma, and mucosa - associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)

lymphoma

H. pylori

■ Longer, more spiral-shaped organisms

■ Often associated with animals rather than humans

Non-H. pylori helicobacters

■ spindle-shaped Gram-negative rods with spiral periplasmic fibers and bipolar sheathed flagella

■ Associated with abortion in sheep

Flexispira rappini