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Pathogen Page

Campylobacter fetus

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

bovine venereal campylobacteriosis (BVC)

3. Introduction

C. fetus is a small Gram-negative bacterial species. C. fetus cells are curved, S-shaped, or spiral rods, 0.2 to 0.8 μm in width and 0.5 to 5 μm in length. They are motile by means of a single polar unsheathed flagellum, and require a microaerophilic atmosphere (3% to 5% O2) for growth.
Two subspecies of C. fetus exist, C. fetus subsp. fetus and C. fetus subsp. venerealis, although the spectrum of disease caused by the 2 subspecies is significantly different. C. fetus subsp. venerealis infects the bovine reproductive tract and causes the sexually transmitted disease bovine venereal campylobacteriosis (BVC). BVC results in infertility and is a major problem for the cattle industry. A vaccine against BVC is available and results in a strong mucosal and systemic IgG response that both protects against new C. fetus subsp. venerealis infection and eradicates previous infection.
C. fetus subsp. fetus also infects cattle, as well as sheep and other ungulates, but causes a different type of disease. C. fetus subsp. fetus infection of farm animals results in sporadic abortion but not infertility. C. fetus subsp. fetus is spread by ingestion of contaminated food and water rather than by sexual contact. Following ingestion, C. fetus subsp. fetus first colonizes the intestinal tract of the host, followed by a transient bacteremia that can seed extraintestinal sites including the placentas of pregnant animals, resulting in abortion (Thompson, 2002).

4. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Humans, cattle, sheep and other ungulates (Thompson, 2002).

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