Campylobacter Flashcards
What subspecies is associated with Bovine Genital
Campylobacteriosis (BGC) or Bovine Venereal Campylobacteriosis (BVC)
C.fetus subspecies veneralis
-they are more commonly associated with abortion and have a more sporadic occurence
What does Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis cause?
venereal disease that results in infertility or early embryonic death
What does campylobacter look like?
- Curved S-shaped or spiral rods
- Gram negative, oxidase +
- sigle polar flagellum, corkscrew motility
- microaerophillic, 5% oxygen
What is the best way to grow campylobacter in the lab?
sheep blood agar
What is the main form of campylobacter virulence?
- Flagella (most important)
- LOS instead of polysaccharide
- pathogenesis is due to adhesion, invasion
What kind of disease is BCG?
venereal disease
the aetiological agent is campylobacter fetus
How is c.fetus veneralisis transmitted?
- contaminated instruments, bedding, artifical insemination using contaminated serum
What are the clinical signs in cattle?
– Early embryonic death
– Prolonged luteal phases
– Irregular oestrous cycles
– Repeat breeding and as a result, protracted calving periods
What is metritis?
inflammation of the uterus
What are the usual post-mortem findings in cattle?
- Foetus can be fresh with partially expanded lungs or severley autolysed
- mild fibrinous pleuritis and peritonitis may also be noted
- placentitis is mild with haemorrhagic cotyledons
What cattle sample are you taking for bovine infertility?
Aneoustrus mucus from cows, preputial washing from the bull
What sample are you taking for bovine abortion?
foetal abomasal content
placenta
What do you use the ELISA test for?
testing vaginal mucus
What do you have to do when doing a VMAT test?
because there is so much variability in responses, at lesat 10% of the herd must be tested
What is the issue with bacterial culture?
number of organisms may be low
How often do you need to do sheath washing?
Sheath washing examined using a fluorescent antibody test and or culture. For
maximum accuracy, bulls should be sampled twice, ~1 wk apart.
When is campylobacter abortion most likely to occur?
The last 6 weeks of gestation
Name two other common causes of ovine abortion
– Chlamydophila
– Toxoplasmosis
What is the pathogenesis in sheep?
Campylobacter survives in the environment and can be shed in the faeces and reproductuve tissues
ewes become infected through exposure to the organism in the envoronemnt- faecal oral route
* infection results in bacteraemia or septicaemia which leads to death of the placenta
What sample should you take for ovine abortion?
- Foetal abomasal contents ‘
- placenta
What is the best way to manage it in sheep?
Keep aborted ewes, but mix with non pregnant replacements to allow
ewes to develop immunity.
* When faced with an outbreak, the only option is to use antibiotics
(generally have no impact).
What growth media is specific for campylobacter?
charcoal-cefoperazone deoxycholate media
In what age of bull does campylobacter infection tend to be transient?
Young bulls, aged 3-4
In what age of bull are the crypts deep enough for an infection to be established?
Bulls over the age of 3/4
Where are the igA antibodies usually shed in 50% of cows?
in cervical mucus, several months after infection
Where in the bull does campylobacter survive?
In the crypts of the bull penis
enters the reproductive tract via coitus
What does metritus result in?
Poor pregnancy rates, reabsorption of the foetus or death of the embryo
What does the mucopurulent endometritis result in?
- Early embryonic death
- Prolonged luteal phase
- Irregular oestrus cycle
- repeated breeding, protracted calving periods
What is interesting about the clinical signs of bulls?
they are asymptomatic and produce normal semen
How may you control campylobacter in cows?
- Surveillance
- Reputable AI
- Antibiotic treatment of infected cows
- Vaccination
When is campylobacter shedding seen to be the lowest in sheep?
During Nov/ Dec when they are fed on pasture rather than hay/ silage
When is campylobacter shedding seen to be the highest in sheep?
increased stress as a result of lambing, weaning and movement onto new pasture
What do the effective vaccines usually consist of?
single or multiple strains of C. fetus and a vaccine containing C. fetus as well as C. jejuni are available in some countries.
What animal species is the main source of campylobacter infection in humans?
Poultry
C.jejuni, C.Coli
What occurs as a result of repeat breeding?
protracted calving periods
