Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, and Arcobacter spp. were detected in feces of healthy dairy cows by highly specific multiplex-PCR assays. For C. jejuni, at this one-time sampling, cows from 80.6% of farm operations (n ‫؍‬ 31) and 37.7% of individual dairy cattle fecal samples (n ‫؍‬ 2,085) were positive. Farm management factors were correlated with prevalence in herds in which >25% of cows were positive for C. jejuni. Statistical significance was set at a P of 0.20. Using these criteria, application of manure with broadcast spreaders (P ‫؍‬ 0.17), feeding of whole cottonseed or hulls (P ‫؍‬ 0.17) or alfalfa (P ‫؍‬ 0.15), and accessibility of feed to birds (P ‫؍‬ 0.17) were identified as possible risk factors for C. jejuni infection. C. coli was detected in at least one animal in 19.4% of operations and 1.8% of individual cows (n ‫؍‬ 2,085). At the herd level, use of broadcaster spreaders was not a risk factor for C. coli infection. For Arcobacter, cows from 71% of dairy operations (n ‫؍‬ 31) and 14.3% of individual dairy cattle fecal samples (n ‫؍‬ 1,682) were positive. At the herd level, for Arcobacter spp., feeding of alfalfa (P ‫؍‬ 0.11) and use of individual waterers (P ‫؍‬ 0.19) were protective. This is the first description of Arcobacter spp. in clinically healthy dairy cattle and the first attempt to correlate their presence with C. jejuni.

Fecal samples were collected from 4,361 dairy cows on 91 dairy operations between 26 February and 8 July 1996. Fecal samples were cultured for Escherichia coli O157, and positive isolates were probed for verotoxin-producing genes. A total of 52 (1.2%) fecal samples on 22 (24.2%) operations were positive for verotoxin-producing E. coli O157. Herds in which samples were collected on or after 1 May 1996 were significantly more likely to test positive than herds sampled before that date (odds ratio = 7.7). Herds maintained on farms on which alleyways were flushed with water to remove manure were 8.0 times more likely to have samples test positive for verotoxin-producing E. coli O157 than were herds maintained on farms cleaned by use of other methods of manure removal.

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Abstract. Aerotolerant organisms resembling Campylobacter, now designated as Arcobacter, have been described from aborted farm animals and from cases of human enteritis worldwide. The goals of this study were 1) to attempt to recover Arcobacter spp. from cases of porcine abortion, 2) to characterize these isolates by phenotype and ribotype, and 3) to compare the usefulness of ribotype and phenotype patterns for identifying Arcobacter butzleri and the DNA hybridization groups 1A and 1B of A. cryaerophilus. Isolates of Arcobacter spp. from North Carolina and Iowa were recovered from porcine tissues. In Iowa, Arcobacter spp. were recovered from 43% (13/30) of porcine abortion cases evaluated. Isolations were made from placenta (44%), kidney (44%), and stomach contents (12%), which were the only tissues examined. The most reliable biochemical tests for A. butzleri included growth in 1% glycine and in 1.5% NaCl, weak catalase activity, and resistance to cadmium chloride. Arcobacter cryaerophilus strains were characterized by strong catalase activity and sensitivity to cadmium chloride. The DNA hybridization groups 1A and 1B of A. cryaerophilus could not be distinguished by biochemical tests. This represents the first description of A. cryaerophilus DNA group 1A in animals within the United States.Campylobacter species have long been associated with disease in both humans and animals. Aerotolerant Campylobacter-like organisms (CLO) were isolated from aborted bovine fetuses in 1977 and from aborted porcine fetuses in 1978.7,8 They were designated a single species, Campylobacter cryaerophila, on the basis of aerotolerance and the ability to grow at 25 C.22 DNA homology studies of C. cryaerophila isolates associated with human enteritis indicated at least 2 distinct species. Strains exhibiting only a 40% DNA homology with C. cryaerophila were designated a new species, C. butzleri. DNA analysis further subdivided C. cryaerophila into hybridization groups 1A (DNA group 1A) and 1B (DNA group 1B). However, because these hybridization groups were phenotypically indistinguishable, they remained a single species.

The genus Arcobacter encompasses gram-negative, aerotolerant, spiral-shaped bacteria formerly designated Campylobacter cryaerophila. Two genus-specific 16S rRNA-based oligonucleotide DNA probes (23-mer and 27-mer) were developed. The probes hybridized with strains of Arcobacter butzleri (n ‫؍‬ 58), Arcobacter cryaerophilus (n ‫؍‬ 19), and Arcobacter skirrowii (n ‫؍‬ 17). The probes did not cross-react with any of the reference strains of Campylobacter, Helicobacter, including ''Flexispira rappini,'' or Wolinella. The 27-mer hybridized with 61 Arcobacter spp. field isolates originating from late-term aborted porcine (n ‫؍‬ 54) and equine (n ‫؍‬ 2) fetuses and humans with enteritis (n ‫؍‬ 5). The species of Arcobacter isolates (n ‫؍‬ 56) recovered from aborted livestock fetuses were determined by ribotyping and were as follows: A. cryaerophilus group 1A (11 of 56; 20%), A. cryaerophilus group 1B (37 of 56; 66%), A. butzleri (5 of 56; 9%), and unknown (3 of 56; 5%). The five human field strains were identified as A. butzleri. A species-specific DNA probe (24-mer) for A. butzleri was also developed since there is evidence that this organism may be a human pathogen. This probe hybridized with previously characterized strains of A. butzleri (n ‫؍‬ 58), with 10 field strains identified as A. butzleri by ribotyping and with 2 strains having an indeterminate ribotype. The A. butzleri-specific probe did not crossreact with strains of A. skirrowii (n ‫؍‬ 17) and A. cryaerophilus (n ‫؍‬ 19).