Evidence of reinfection with multiple strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in Macaca nemestrina housed under hyperendemic conditions.

A prospective bacteriologic study of 18 infant pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) housed in a nursery facility in which Campylobacter spp. are endemic was undertaken to determine the epidemiology of infection and reinfection. The isolates of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli cultured from 8 of the 18 infants were characterized by serotyping, DNA hybridization, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein profiles. The chronology of infection was indicative of multiple reinfections with different strains of C. jejuni and C. coli during the 12-month study of each infant. The duration of infection with a particular strain was 3 to 4 weeks. Infants were also infected with nalidixic acid-resistant campylobacters. These observations indicated that long-term infections under endemic conditions are caused by continual reinfection. C. jejuni or C. coli infection correlated with diarrhea in 5 of the 18 infants at 1 to 4 months of age.