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Title: INFECTION OF CAESAREAN-DERIVED COLOSTRUM-DEPRIVED (CDCD) ONE-DAY-OLD PIGLETS WITH ARCOBACTER BUTZLERI, ARCOBACTER CRYAEROPHILUS AND ARCOBACTER SKIRROWII

Author
item WESLEY, IRENE - 3630-14-00
item BAETZ, ALBERT - 3630-14-00
item LARSON, D - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Infection and Immunity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Arcobacter spp. are a new group of bacteria and have been implicated in human and in animal diseases. Arcobacter spp. are closely related to Campylobacter jejuni, which is a major cause of human foodborne illness, and to Helicobacter pylori, which causes gastric ulcers. Newborn piglets have been used as models to study human diseases caused by Campylobacter and Helicobacter. Little is known about how Arcobacter spp. cause disease The susceptibility of piglets to the three types of Arcobacter was determined. The duration of fecal shedding suggested that the three species of Arcobacter established themselves in the intestinal tract of piglets. However, only Arcobacter butzleri was found in tissues other than the intestine. This suggests that of the 3 types of Arcobacter, Arcobacter butzleri is most likely to cause infection. This information will be useful in understanding how Arcobacter butzleri causes disease in humans and in livestock.

Technical Abstract: Neonatal piglets have been used as models to study human campylobacteriosis and helicobacteriosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative pathogenicity of three Arcobacter species in 1-day-old Caesarean- derived colostrum-deprived (CDCD) piglets. In Experiment I, two piglets each were infected per os with either Arcobacter butzleri ATCC 49616, Arcobacter cryaerophilus 1B ATCC 43159, Arcobacter skirrowii CCUG 10374, o a suspension consisting of three field strains of A. butzleri (approx. 5 x 10**9 CFU per piglet). Rectal swabs were taken prior to infection and daily thereafter. At 1 day postinoculation (PI), all pigs, except controls and those given A. skirrowii, were shedding Arcobacter spp. as determined by culture of rectal swabs. Stomach ulcers were present in the piglets (n=4) which had received either the field strain or the ATCC type strain of A. butzleri. A. butzleri was recovered from the lung, kidney, ileum or brain of 3 of these 4 infected piglets. A. cryaerophilus 1B was detected in rectal swabs for up to 7 days, but was not cultured from tissues at necropsy. A. skirrowii was not detected in the rectal swabs by day 3 PI and was not isolated from tissues at necropsy on day 7 PI. In Experiment II, two piglets each were infected per os with A. butzleri ATCC 49616, A. cryaerophilus 1A ATCC 43158, A. skirrowii CCUG 10374, or the A. butzleri field strain Yard J/c (approx. 5 x 10**9 CFU per piglet). Arcobacter spp. were cultured from rectal swabs by 1 day PI from all piglets, except controls and those which received A. cryaerophilus 1A. Only the A. butzleri-infected animals (n=4), which had been given either the ATCC 49616 reference strain or the field isolate Yard J/c, shed Arcobacter cells for more than 4 days.