Zoonotic Transmission of Campylobacter jejuni to Caretakers From Sick Pen Calves Carrying a Mixed Population of Strains With and Without Guillain Barré Syndrome-Associated Lipooligosaccharide Loci

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni causes foodborne gastroenteritis and may trigger acute autoimmune sequelae including Guillain Barré Syndrome. Onset of neuromuscular paralysis is associated with exposure to C. jejuni lipooligosaccharide (LOS) classes A, B, C, D, and E that mimic and evoke antibodies against gangliosides on myelin and axons of peripheral nerves. Family members managing a Michigan dairy operation reported recurring C. jejuni gastroenteritis. Because dairy cattle are known to shed C. jejuni, we hypothesized that calves in the sick pen were the source of human infections. Fecal samples obtained from twenty-five calves, one dog, and one asymptomatic family member were cultured for Campylobacter. C. jejuni isolates were obtained from thirteen calves and the family member: C. coli from two calves, and C. hyointestinalis from two calves. Some calves had diarrhea; most were clinically normal. Typing of lipooligosaccharide biosynthetic loci showed that eight calf C. jejuni isolates fell into classes A, B, and C. Two calf isolates and the human isolate possessed LOS class E, associated mainly with enteric disease and rarely with Guillain Barré Syndrome. Multi-locus sequence typing, porA and flaA typing, and whole genome comparisons of the thirteen C. jejuni isolates indicated that the three LOS class E strains that included the human isolate were closely related, indicating zoonotic transmission. Whole-genome comparisons revealed that isolates differed in virulence gene content, particularly in loci encoding biosynthesis of surface structures. Family members experienced diarrheal illness repeatedly over 2 years, yet none experienced GBS despite exposure to calves carrying invasive C. jejuni with LOS known to elicit antiganglioside autoantibodies.

Genetic characteristics, antimicrobial susceptibility, and virulence genes distribution of Campylobacter isolated from local dual-purpose chickens in central China

“…The phylogenetic tree and SNP count matrix heat map based on SNP analysis was obtained by using the online tool “multiple genome analysis” provided by BacWGSTdb 2.0 ( http://bacdb.cn/BacWGSTdb/ ). RM1221_CP000025, which had abundant studies on its genome ( Parker et al., 2006 ; Neal-McKinney et al., 2021 ; St. Charles et al., 2022 ), was selected as reference genome in BacWGSTdb tool and the construction of the phylogenetic tree in this tool relies on Neighbor-Joining (NJ) algorithm ( Feng et al., 2021 ). The virulence genes were predicted based on the Virulence Factor Database (VFDB; http://www.mgc.ac.cn/VFs/ ).…”

Campylobacter jejuni Response When Inoculated in Bovine In Vitro Fecal Microbial Consortia Incubations in the Presence of Metabolic Inhibitors

“…Further concerns have been raised when some Campylobacter spp. including C. jejuni isolates from dairy farms exhibit antibiotic resistance and/or carry the lipooligosaccharide classes potentially responsible for triggering Guillian Barré Syndrome [16,17]. Beef cattle farms, feedlots, and cow-calf operations have also been proven to be sources of Campylobacter that display antibiotic resistance [18][19][20][21].…”