Evaluation of transport and enrichment mediafor the isolation of Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis from spiked samples representative of preputial samples from bulls

Sammanfattning

Campylobacter fetus is one of 51 recognized species within the genus Campylobacter. There are threesubspecies of Campylobacter fetus and Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis (Cfv) is one ofthem. Cfv is the causal agent of the sexually transmittable disease bovine genital campylobacteriosis(BGC) causing infertility, early embryonic death and sporadic abortions in cows whereas bulls areasymptomatic. Sweden is free from this disease but there is an international surveillance program inplace to monitor a potential entry into the country. BGC is a notifiable disease under Swedishepizootic legislation. The aim of this study was to evaluate three previously described transport and enrichment media(TEM) using spiked samples representative of preputial samples for the detection of Cfv, and toconfirm that the Cfv strains used in this study cluster in close phylogenetic proximity to other strainsof Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis. New Lander’s medium, a recipe without the potentially toxic antibiotics, had superior recovery ratein comparison to old Lander’s and TTE medium. New Lander’s has the potential to replace oldLander’s medium in laboratories still using this recipe. TTE medium showed potential to be a goodalternative but there was a suspected manufacturing error of TTE medium used with the referencestrain. All Campylobacter strains used in this study clustered in close phylogenetic proximity toother Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis strains confirming they belonged to subspeciesvenerealis.