Distribution of Campylobacter and Arcobacter in Livestock

We designed polymearse chain reaction (PCR) primers to distinguish Campylobacter jejuni from Campylobacter coli and to differentiate Arcobacter from other species of Campylobacter. We applied these PCR methods to estimate their prevalence in feces of healthy cattle and hogs and to identify risk factors for infection. For cattle, C. jejuni (23%), Arcobacter (11%), and C. coli (1.57%) were detected in healthy dairy cows (n=1,628). Campylobacter coli (69%), Arcobacter (46%) and C. jejuni (0.28%) were found in market weight hogs (n=1,057). This indicates the widespread distribution of these microbes livestock