Human Acute Gastroenteritis Associated with Arcobacter butzleri

Arcobacter spp. are considered emerging food-borne pathogens (1x1Vandenberg, O., Skirrow, M.B., and Butzler, J.P. Campylobacter and Arcobacter. in: S. Borriello, P. Murray, P.R. Funke (Eds.) Topley & Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections. 10th ed. Edward Arnold Ltd., Italy; 2005: 1541–1562See all References1). Contaminated water and meat play an important role in the transmission of these bacteria to humans (2x2Lehner, A., Tasara, T., and Stephan, R. Relevant aspects of Arcobacter spp. as potential foodborne pathogen. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 2005; 102: 127–135CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (80)See all References, 3x3Snelling, W.J. et al. Under the microscope: Arcobacter. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 2006; 42: 7–14CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (43)See all References). Currently, the genus Arcobacter has 13 recognized species: A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, A. skirrowii, A. nitrofigilis, A. cibarius, A. halophilus, A. mytili, A. thereius, A. marinus, A. trophiarum, A. defluvii, A. molluscorum, and A. ellisii (4x4Collado, L. and Figueras, M.J. Taxonomy, epidemiology, and clinical relevance of the genus Arcobacter. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 2011; 24: 174–192CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (108)See all References, 5x5Figueras, M.J. et al. Arcobacter ellisii sp. nov., isolated from mussels. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 2011; 34: 414–418CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (35)See all References). Only three species, namely, A. butzleri, A. cryaerophilus, and A. skirrowii, have been associated with human and animal diseases (1x1Vandenberg, O., Skirrow, M.B., and Butzler, J.P. Campylobacter and Arcobacter. in: S. Borriello, P. Murray, P.R. Funke (Eds.) Topley & Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections. 10th ed. Edward Arnold Ltd., Italy; 2005: 1541–1562See all References1). These microorganisms cause a number of infections, such as abortion, mastitis, and septicemia, in animals. In humans, they have been reported to cause gastrointestinal tract infections and septicemia (6x6Burnens, A.P., Schaad, U.B., and Nicolet, J. Isolation of Arcobacter butzleri from a girl with gastroenteritis on Yersinia selective agar. Med. Microbiol. Lett. 1992; 1: 251–256See all References, 7x7On, S.L., Stacey, A., and Smyth, J. Isolation of Arcobacter butzleri from a neonate with bacteraemia. J. Infect. 1995; 31: 225–227Abstract | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (72)See all References). Arcobacter septicemia secondary to underlying diseases, such as cirrhosis (8x8Yan, J.J. et al. Arcobacter butzleri bacteremia in a patient with liver cirrhosis. J. Formosa Med. Assoc. 2000; 99: 166–169PubMedSee all References8) and acute gangrenous appendicitis (9x9Lau, S.K. et al. Identification by 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing of Arcobacter butzleri in a patient with acute gangrenous appendicitis. J. Clin. Pathol. Mol. Pathol. 2002; 55: 182–185CrossRef | Scopus (61)See all References9), has also been documented in humans.The role of other Arcobacter species in human and animal diseases remains unclear (1x1Vandenberg, O., Skirrow, M.B., and Butzler, J.P. Campylobacter and Arcobacter. in: S. Borriello, P. Murray, P.R. Funke (Eds.) Topley & Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections. 10th ed. Edward Arnold Ltd., Italy; 2005: 1541–1562See all References1). It has been reported that Arcobacter species are found more commonly on poultry rather than red meat (10x10Aydin, F. et al. Prevalence and distribution of Arcobacter species in various sources in Turkey and molecular analysis of isolated strains by ERIC-PCR. J. Appl. Microbiol. 2007; 103: 27–35CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (49)See all References10), suggesting that poultry may be a major reservoir for the pathogen. We report here a patient with abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and sweating from whom A. butzleri was isolated. This is the first documented human case of A. butzleri gastroenteritis in Turkey.