Characterization and description of "Campylobacter upsaliensis" isolated from human feces

Abstract

During a 3-year period, "Campylobacter upsaliensis" was isolated from 99 patients. Phenotypic characterization and numerical analysis of protein electrophoregrams showed evidence that "C. upsaliensis" is a distinct Campylobacter species with unique characteristics. The MBCs of 13 antibiotics were determined. In general, these organisms were highly susceptible to drugs that were present in the selective isolation media, making none of the available selective media suitable for the isolation of "C. upsaliensis." Ten strains were found to be resistant to erythromycin (MBCs, .12.50 mg/liter). Plasmid DNA was detectable in 89 of the 99 strains; 16 plasmid profiles could be identified. Plasmid pattern 16, containing four plasmids of 52, 32, 5.5, and 2.6 megadaltons, represented 60.7% of the plasmid-containing strains. None of the "C. upsaliensis" strains could be agglutinated with antisera against heat-labile antigens from C. jejuni, C. coli, or C. laridis. "C. upsaliensis" was found to be susceptible to serum killing and was readily phagocytized by human polymorphonuclear cells. Catalase-negative or weakly positive (CNW) strains of Campylobacter were first isolated from dogs by Sandstedt et al. (31). In the same report, those investigators were able to demonstrate, by DNA hybridization, that these organisms belonged to a new species; the name "Campylobacter upsaliensis" was proposed in 1986 (K. Sandstedt and J. Ursing, Abstr. XIV Int. Congr. Microbiol. P.B8-17, p. 61, 1986). The species description was minimal, although a type strain (NCTC 11541 = LMG 8850) was designated. Neither the species name nor the type strain has standing in the literature, because the species description was not published in a peer-reviewed journal. CNW strains were isolated from five children with diarrhea by Mégraud and Bonnet in France (F. Mégraud and F. Bonnet, Letter, J. Infect. 12:275-276, 1986); Steele and McDermott (32) recovered eight CNW isolates from diarrheic stools of Australian children and one CNW isolate from an adult; Patton et al. (27) showed evidence that "C. upsaliensis" is responsible for enteritis in both adults and children in the United States; Taylor et al. (36) isolated "C. upsaliensis" from seven patients, both adults and children, with diarrhea in Canada; Lastovica et al. (16) isolated these organisms from blood cultures of pediatric patients in South Africa; Walmsley and Karmali (39) isolated "C. upsaliensis" from six children. Most recently, Fox et al. (8) isolated "C. upsaliensis" from three asymptomatic cats. In this report, we characterize and describe the "C. upsaliensis" group, using strains isolated in our hospital. We use the species name in quotation marks to indicate its proposed name and refer to the "type strain" as a reference strain.

Distinct genotypes of human and canine isolates of Campylobacter upsaliensis determined by 16S rRNA gene typing and plasmid profiling

“…Plasmid profiling alone cannot be regarded as a primary typing option for C. upsaliensis, since only about half (42 of 98) of the strains, irrespective of the animal host, carried plasmids. This frequency is lower than that found in previous studies (7,17), and the difference may be due to the fact that those studies were based on strains predominantly of human origin. Five of the 11 16S ribotypes did not contain plasmid-bearing strains.…”

“…Plasmid profile typing has been shown to be relevant in the study of C. upsaliensis (4,7,12,17). Owen and Hernandez (17) detected extrachromosomal DNAs in 87% of strains, observing fifteen different plasmid profiles and an association of plasmid profile with geographical area of strain origin.…”

Isolation of Campylobacter spp. from Client‐Owned Dogs and Cats, and Retail Raw Meat Pet Food in the Manawatu, New Zealand

“…upsaliensis is highly prevalent in dogs and cats and very rarely observed in other sources; hence, pets may be a source of infection that humans are frequently exposed to. Campylobacter upsaliensis is among the leading emerging Campylobacter pathogens and, with suitable culture methods, isolation rates higher than those of C. coli were reported in patients with gastroenteritis in Europe (Goossens et al., ; Lindblom et al., ), Africa (Lastovica, ) and North America (Labarca et al., ). In New Zealand, a recent survey of laboratory practices showed none of the public health laboratories used culture methods suitable for detection of non‐ jejuni/coli Campylobacter spp.…”

A comparison of a new campylobacter selective medium (CAT) with membrane filtration for the isolation of thermophilic campylobacters including Campylobacter upsaliensis

“…were isolated from both diarrhoeic and asymptomatic dogs using a passing filtration technique (Sandstedt et al 1983). Since then other reports have described the isolation of these organisms and have suggested they are potential human pathogens associated with enteritis and bacteraemia, and also opportunist infections in immunocompromised individuals (Steele et al 1985 ;Lastovica et al 1989;Patton et al 1989;Taylor et al 1989;Chusid et al 1990;Goossens et al 1990). In 1991 DNA hybridization studies showed that this group of organisms belonged to a new species and the name Campylobacter upsalienszs was proposed (Sandstedt and Ursing 1991).…”