Presence of helicobacter suis in the oral secretions of slaughtered pigs

The main Helicobacter species colonizing the stomach of pigs is H. suis which causes gastritis in experimentally and naturally infected pigs. This bacterium has also been associated with ulcers of the nonglandular part of the porcine stomach and is of zoonotic significance. The definite mode of transmission of H. suis between pigs and from pigs to humans remains to be investigated. This study was carried out to determine if the oral secretions of pigs might be a possible route of transmission. Oral swabs were taken from slaughtered pigs originating from 4 different herds (10 pigs/herd). DNA was extracted from these swabs with PrepMan sample preparation reagent from Applied Biosystems as described by the manufacturer. The presence of H. suis DNA was examined using a quantitative PCR based on the urease A gene. In each herd, 2-3 of the 10 swabs were positive for H. suis DNA. These positive samples contained 3000 to 60 000 bacteria. Further studies are required to determine viability of these bacteria