Gut Microbiology III- Campylobacter and Lawsonia Flashcards
What is proliferative enteropathy?
Hyperplasia of intestinal crypt enterocytes with inflammation and sometimes ulceration/ haemorrhage
What do proliferative enteropathy lesions look like?
Gross thickening of parts of the mucosa
bloody intestinal content
What is lawsonia intracellularis?
obligate intracellular bacterium
Gram-neg, curved rod
Delta-Proteobacteria
Modified Ziehl- Neelsen
Single polar flagellum
Found in the oral cavity and intestine of pigs and horses
Cultivated only in cells
What are the susceptible hosts of lawsonia?
- Pigs
- Horses
- Hamsters
- Other animals can be affected
How is lawsonia transmissed?
Faecal-Oral route
What is the pathogenesis of lawsonia?
- Infects epithelial cells
- enterocytes undergo mitosis and each cell retains bacteria #
- Crypts elongate
- Enterocytes become necrotic
How is lawsonia diagnosed?
- based on clinical signs (acute diarrhoea with brownish/ black clotted blood
How may you control/ prevent
Antibiotics in feed for several weeks during or after periods of stress and during outbreaks in order to control PPE
Avirulent live vaccine is widely available
What are the main points surrounding campylobacter?
- At least 28 recognised species
- Gram negative, small bacteria
- Most species are motile
- catalse and oxidase +
What is campylobacter fetus?
Cause of abortion and infertility in ruminants
subsp- veneralis, and fetus
What are the features of campylobacter jejuni?
- Gram negtaive
- Microaerophillic
- thermophillic
- long, thin, spiral
- highly motile
- causes diarrhoea in humans and animals
Where is campylobacter jejuni commonly found?
Commonly found in the intestine of animals
Poultry are the main source of infection for humans
can cause abortion in cattle and other species
Where is campylobacter coli commonly found?
In the intestine of pigs/ in domestic and wild birds
can cause diarrhoea i piglets
ocassioal enteritis
hard to distinguish between coli and jejuni
Which campylobacter is said to be a commensal in poultry?
C.jejuni,
however there is an immune response detected to C.jejuni
What is C.jejuni infection associated with?
- Vibrionic hepatitis
- Hockburn
- Spotty liver disease