ABSTRACT
In contrast to the prominence given to catalase-positive Campylobacters in man, these organisms have been associated unequivocally with enteric infections in animals for over 50 years. The two syndromes classically associated with infection by catalase-positive Campylobacters in cattle, sheep, and pigs are winter diarrhea, and swine dysentery, a muco-hemorrhagic colitis with a 7 to 14 days incubation period occurring in weaned pigs. In sheep, no specific clinicopathological entity was classically associated with enteric Campylobacter infections, and Campylobacters isolated from sheep were more commonly associated with reproductive disturbances than with those of the enteric tract. The host response to the presence of Campylobacter jejuni appeared to be mild inflammation including an initial outpouring of neutrophils followed by the presence of lymphocytes and macrophages in the crypts.
