CHAPTER 32 CAMPYLOBACTER INFECTIONS
STEPHANIE SPECK
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Department of Virology and Rickettsiology, Munich, Germany
Campylobacter spp. are Gram-negative, thin, curved rods.
Their cells (0.2—0.5 μm in width) form characteristic seagull-shaped and sometimes long spiral forms and are motile by a single flagellum. Most of the species are micro- aerophilic. Campylobacter were once placed in the genus Vibrio, and some ofthe diseases are still occasionally referred to as ‘vibriosis’(1). The following species have been isolated from wild animals: Campylobacter coli (synonyms C. hyoilei, Vibrio coli), C. hyointestinalis, C. jejuni (synonyms C. fetus subsp. jejuni), and C. lari (synonyms C. laridis).The species of the genus Campylobacter are distributed worldwide among domestic and wild animals and birds, but in most cases they live as commensals on the mucosa of the oral cavity and intestinal tract. The most important domestic animal pathogens are C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. fetus subsp. venerealis, C. jejuni and possibly C. hyointestinalis and C. mucosalis. Many Campylobacter spp. are transmitted via the faecal-oral route, whereas C. fetus subsp. venerealis is transmitted by infected bulls or artificial insemination with contaminated semen. Wild birds and wild mammal populations are regarded as reservoirs of Campylobacter. In a large study, 1,794 birds, representing 107 species from 26 families, were examined. An overall Campylobacter prevalence of 21.6% was found, but it varied from 0 to 100%. Certain bird taxa had high prevalences (e.g. shorebirds, wagtails, pipits, starlings and thrushes), whereas others did not(2). The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was highly influenced by feeding habits and ecosystem, an observation that had been previously described in another study(3). In this study 540 wild birds were examined and the overall prevalence was 28.6%.
By contrast, an overall prevalence of 1.4% was reported from a study performed on wild bird samples from Northern England. The latter study revealed that wild birds carry livestock- associated strains of C. jejuni, but owing to the apparent absence of wild bird strains in livestock the authors suggested that the route of infection is predominantly from livestock to wild birds(4). Others reported that different host species largely carry their own Campylobacter spp., indicating that crossspecies transmission is rare(5’6). Table 32.1 gives an overview of the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in wildlife.Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli can be found in large amounts in the faeces of food-producing and companion animals. Diarrhoea in dogs has been associated with the presence of C. jejuni, and mild disease clinical signs such as soft-to-watery faeces are seen in livestock. Extra- intestinal infections in livestock include abortion (sheep, goat, pigs) and mastitis (cattle). Campylobacter hyointesti- nalis was recovered from pigs with enteritis and C. mucosa- lis was identified in pigs suffering from proliferative enteritis. Although the mechanisms of pathogenesis in C. jejuni and C. coli infection have received substantial inves-
Infectious Diseases of Wild Mammals and Birds in Europe, First Edition. Edited by Dolores Gavier-Widen, J. Paul Duff, and Anna Meredith. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2012 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
TABLE 32.1 Reported detection of Campylobacter spp. in wild mammals and birds in Europe.
| Host (common name) | Host (genus/species) | C. coli | C. hyointestinalis | C. jejeuni | C. lari | Campylobacter spp. | Geographic origin | References |
| Hare | Lepus sp. | c | c, d | Norway, Denmark, | 7, 8 | |||
| Sweden | ||||||||
| Rabbit | Not specified | c | UK | 9 | ||||
| Wild boar | Sus scrofa | c | c | c | Sweden | 8 | ||
| Roe deer | C. capreolus | c | c | c | ||||
| Moose | Alces alces | c | ||||||
| Red fox | Vulpes vulpes | d | Denmark | 7 | ||||
| Seal | Not specified | d | ||||||
| Badger | Meles meles | d | c | Denmark, UK | 7, 9 | |||
| Hedgehog | Erinaceus sp. | d | Denmark | 7 | ||||
| Squirrel | not specified | d | ||||||
| Red squirrel | Sciurus vulgaris | c | Italy | 10 | ||||
| Canada goose | Branta (B.) canadensis | Sweden | 8 | |||||
| Brent goose | B. bernicla | c | Sweden | 2 | ||||
| Common eider | Somateria mollissima | c | ||||||
| Northern pintail | Anas acuta | c | ||||||
| Eurasian teal | A. crecca | c | ||||||
| Mallard | A.platythynchos | c | Norway | 11 | ||||
| Goldeneye | Bucephala clangula | c | Norway | 3 | ||||
| Eurasian sparrow | Accipiter nisus | d | c | Denmark, Sweden | 7, 2 | |||
| hawk Common buzzard | Buteo buteo | d | Denmark | 7 | ||||
| Pheasant | Not specified | c | c, d | c | Denmark | 7 | ||
| Common ringed | Charadrius hiaticula | c | c | Sweden | 2 | |||
| plover Grey plover | Pluvialis squatarola | c | ||||||
| Common sandpiper | Actitis hypoleucos | c | c | |||||
| Ruddy turnstone | Arenaria interpres | c | ||||||
| Dunlin | Calidris (C. ) alpina | c | c | c | c | |||
| Red knot | C. canutus | c | ||||||
| Curlew sandpiper | C. ferruginea | c | c | c | ||||
| Little stint | C. minuta | c | c | |||||
| Temmincks stint | C. temminckii | c | ||||||
| Common snipe | Gallinago gallinago | c | ||||||
| Broad-billed sandpiper | Limicola falcinellus | c | c | c | ||||
| Jack snipe | Lymnocryptes minimus | c | ||||||
| Ruff | Philomachus pugnax | c | c | |||||
| Eurasian woodcock | Scolopax rusticola | c | ||||||
| Wood sandpiper | Tringa (TS) glareola | c | c | |||||
| Common greenshank | T nebularia | c | ||||||
| Feral pigeon | Columba livia | c | Norway | 11 | ||||
| Gull | Larus spp. | c, d | c | c | Norway, Sweden, | 3, 7, 12 | ||
| Northern Ireland, Denmark | 8 | |||||||
| Long-eared owl | Asio otus | c | Sweden | 2 | ||||
| Ural owl | Strix uralensis | c | Norway | 3 | ||||
| Redwing | Turdus (T) iliacus | c | Sweden | 2 | ||||
| Common blackbird | T merula | c | c | c | c | |||
| Song thrush | T philomelos | c | c | |||||
| Fieldfare | T pilaris | c | ||||||
| Mistle thrush | T viscivorus | c |
(Continued)
TABLE 32.1 (Continued)
| Host (common name) | Host (genus/species) | C. coli | C. hyointestinalis | C. jejeuni | C. lari | Campylobacter spp. | Geographic origin | References |
| Common tern | Sterna hirundo | c | c | Norway | 3 | |||
| Eurasian reed warbler | Acrocephalus scirpaceus | c | Sweden | 2 | ||||
| Goldcrest | Regulus regulus | c | ||||||
| Great tit | Parus major | c | ||||||
| Winter wren | Troglodytes troglodytes | c | c | |||||
| Western jackdaw | Coloeus monedula | c | ||||||
| Carrion crow | Corvus (C.) corone | c | c | c | Norway | 3 | ||
| Hooded crow | C. cornix | c | c | c | ||||
| Rook | C. frugilegui | d | Denmark | 7 | ||||
| Raven | Corvus sp. | d | ||||||
| Magpie | Pica sp. | d | ||||||
| Common starling | Sturnus vulgaris | c | c | c | Sweden | 2 | ||
| Anthus pratensis | c | c | ||||||
| White wagtail | Motacilla alba | c | c | |||||
| Dunnock | Prunella modularis | c | ||||||
| European greenfinch | Carduelis chloris | c | ||||||
| Yellowhammer | Emberiza (E. ) | c | ||||||
| citrinella | ||||||||
| Ortolan bunting | E. hortulana | c | ||||||
| Reed bunting | E. schoeniclus | c | Norway | 3 | ||||
| Puffin | Fratercula arctica | c | c | c |
c — carrier status, no clinical disease reported d — animal found dead or dying
tigation, owing to their role in human disease, little is known about the pathogenic mechanisms of most other Campylobacter species. Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus spreads from the intestinal tract to secondary sites, including the placenta. Abortion in the third trimester of ovine gestation results from placentitis. Abortion may also result from C. fetus subsp. venerealis infection in cattle. The organism colonizes the reproductive tract in an ascending route following venereal infection moving from the vagina to cervix, uterus and oviducts. Campylobacter jejuni produces different adhesins and is able to survive in host macrophages. In C. hyointestinalis isolates from pigs with enteritis a cytotoxin has been suggested1-13).
Clinical disease in free- ranging animals has not been described to date, but gross and microscopic lesions caused by Campylobacter are likely to be similar to those in domestic and captive wild animals.
Different specimens are required for the diagnosis of Campylobacter spp. from various clinical conditions. Transport medium is recommended for samples suspected for
C. fetus infection. For the detection of C. fetus subsp. venerealis, cervical mucus from anoestrus cattle as well as preputial washings from bulls are required. Both subspecies of C.fetus as well as C. jejuni can be demonstrated in fetal abomasal contents in cases of bovine and ovine abortion. Direct microscopy of smears using dilute carbol fuchsin (DCF) or fluorescent antibody staining is most reliable for the detection of C. fetui. Campylobacter jejuni can be seen in wet mounts of faeces by phase contrast or dark field microscopy. Rectal swabs or faeces are used to isolate C. jejuni and other intestinal Campylobacter. Bile should be examined for the detection of C. jejuni in avian vibrionic hepatitis. Smears of mucosal scrapings stained after modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain or sections prepared for histopathology and silver stained are recommended for the presence of C. mucosalis and C. hyointestinalis. Isolation procedures vary and require several selective media depending on the Campylobacter species investigated and are therefore often limited to reference laboratories(1). PCR is also used to identify C. jejuni and coli in bacterial cultures as well in faecal or milk samples.
Campylobacter spp. pathogenic for humans are widely distributed among wild animals, but the importance of wildlife as a source of infections in humans is unknown.
Incidents with an association between passerine birds, in particular small crows and blue tits (Parus caeruleus), and Campylobacter sp. contamination of milk for human consumption by pecking open the bottle tops appear now to be less frequently recorded1-14). Campylobacter jejuni sequence types isolated from geese correspond to those sampled from cases of human disease; hence, the possibility that such strains could cause human disease or waterborne outbreaks on rare occasions cannot be completely dismissed)6).
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