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Method: PCR
Helicobacter spp. are helical or curved, gram-negative bacteria. For culture, they
need especially enriched culture media. The Helicobacter genus comprises at least
35 species. Some Helicobacter species colonise the gastric mucosa, while others
colonise the intestine and liver of humans or animals. In humans, Helicobacter pylori is
correlated with gastritis and stomach ulcers, but it is not normally relevant in animals.
It is an anthroponotic disease – in other words, an infection of an animal with a human
pathogen.
Pathogenicity of Helicobacter spp. in animals has not yet completely been clarified.
Helicobacter mustelae was detected in ferrets with gastritis and stomach ulcers,
Helicobacter heilmanii was found in pigs with stomach ulcers. They also seem to be
associated with gastritis, vomiting and inappetence in dogs and cats. Prevalence is
very high, both in healthy as well as in infected animals. Hence, an infection does not
always lead to the outbreak of the disease. It is likely that the clinical picture is also
influenced by the present Helicobacter spp. (mixed infections are frequent) as well as
by the individual host response and environmental factors.
Gastric Helicobacter spp. include H. felis, H. bizzozeronii, H. heilmannii, H. salomonis;
the intestinal ones comprise H. canis, H. bilis, H. cinaedi, Flexispira rappini.
Transmission occurs by oral-oral route, or possibly also by anal-oral route. Flexispira
rappini, which is also assigned to the Helicobacter genus, is associated with the
occurrence of abortions in sheep. Aborted lambs show multifocal hepatic necroses
which are similar to the liver lesions seen in campylobacter infections.
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