Volume 18, Number 3—March 2012
Dispatch
Epsilonproteobacteria in Humans, New Zealand
Table
Prevalence and distribution of the Epsilonproteobacteria taxa in fecal samples from 49 healthy volunteers and 128 persons with diarrhea, New Zealand*
Taxa | SCL | ESR− | ESR+ | Vol |
---|---|---|---|---|
Campylobacter jejuni/coli complex | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
C. ureolyticus | 3 | 10 | 1 | 12 |
C. concisus | 17 | 27 | 16 | 26 |
C. curvus | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
C. gracilis | 4 | 10 | 4 | 3 |
C. hominis | 4 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
C. rectus/showae | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
C. sputorum | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Helicobacter sp. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
C. upsaliensis/helveticus | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
H. pullorum | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
No Epsiloproteobacterium | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
*Detected by PCR–denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. SCL, samples examined by Southern Community Laboratories (Christchurch, New Zealand) found negative for all common pathogens; ESR–, diarrhea samples screened for specific pathogens by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (Christchurch) at the request of the submitting laboratory and found negative; ESR+, diarrhea samples screened for specific pathogens by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research at the request of the submitting laboratory and found positive; vol, samples from volunteers with no known recent history of gastrointestinal illness. Specific pathogens found in ESR+ samples included Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., norovirus, Bacillus cereus, toxigenic Staphylococcus aureus, and toxigenic Clostridium perfringens.