Ghent University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Mar;77(5):1732-8. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02409-10. Epub 2011 Jan 7.
Healthy pigs are an important reservoir for the emerging human pathogen Arcobacter which can result in contamination of porcine carcasses and pork and the spread of arcobacters into the environment. Up to now, the excretion of arcobacters by pigs has been studied, but information about the transmission routes in fattening pigs is lacking. The present study aimed to elucidate the Arcobacter population dynamics in pigs during the fattening period on four farrow-to-finish farms. On each farm, 30 clinically healthy, 12-week-old piglets were selected. Fecal samples were collected on 10 sampling occasions until a slaughter age of 30 weeks was reached. Arcobacter spp. were isolated by a selective method and identified by multiplex PCR. The genetic diversity was examined by amplified fragment length polymorphism and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR. The Arcobacter presence in the fecal samples on the four farms ranged from 11.3 to 50.0%, with excretion levels of up to 10(4) CFU/g feces. The ratio in which Arcobacter species were isolated varied between the farms and over time. Characterization revealed a high degree of genotypic diversity among the isolates. Arcobacter strains persisted and spread within the finishing unit during the fattening period. The occurrence of both unique and shared genotypes in pigs in adjacent and nonadjacent pens demonstrates that transmission routes other than fecal-oral transmission occur.
健康猪是新兴人类病原体弯曲菌的重要储存宿主，它可能导致猪尸体和猪肉污染，并将弯曲菌传播到环境中。迄今为止，已经研究了弯曲菌在猪中的排泄情况，但关于育肥猪传播途径的信息仍然缺乏。本研究旨在阐明在四个育肥农场中，猪在育肥期间的弯曲菌种群动态。在每个农场中，选择 30 头临床健康的 12 周龄仔猪。在达到 30 周龄屠宰年龄之前，共进行了 10 次采样，采集粪便样本。通过选择性方法分离弯曲菌属，并通过多重 PCR 进行鉴定。通过扩增片段长度多态性和肠细菌重复基因间一致性 PCR 检测遗传多样性。在四个农场的粪便样本中，弯曲菌的存在率为 11.3%至 50.0%，排泄水平高达 10(4) CFU/g 粪便。在不同的农场和不同的时间，分离到的弯曲菌种类的比例有所不同。特征分析表明，分离株具有高度的基因型多样性。在育肥期间，弯曲菌菌株在育肥单元内持续存在并传播。相邻和不相邻猪栏中存在独特和共享基因型的情况表明，除了粪-口传播途径外，还存在其他传播途径。
