Campylobacter pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus and C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum recovered from abscesses in pinnipeds

Citation

Foster G, Baily JL, Howie F, Brownlow AC, Wagenaar JA, Gilbert MJ, Miller WG, Byrne BA, Clothier KA, Schmitt T, Patterson T, Reid RJ & Dagleish MP (2020) Campylobacter pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus and C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum recovered from abscesses in pinnipeds. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 142, pp. 41-46. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03544

Abstract
Campylobacter pinnipediorum was described recently for isolates recovered from pinnipeds. The novel species was further split into 2 subspecies based on host and geography, with C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum recovered from otariid seals in California (USA) and C. pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus recovered from phocid seals in Scotland. We report details of the infections of 7 pinnipeds from which C. pinnipediorum was isolated: C. pinnipediorum subsp. caledonicus was isolated from 2 harbour seals Phoca vitulina and a single grey seal Halichoerus grypus, and C. pinnipediorum subsp. pinnipediorum was isolated from California sea lions Zalophus californianus. Six of the isolates were recovered from samples collected at post-mortem investigation. In 2 of the Scottish seals and in 3 of the California seals, C. pinnipediorum was the sole bacterial isolate recovered from abscesses present and suggests they may have resulted from conspecific or intraspecific bite wounds.

Keywords
Campylobacter pinnipediorum; Bite wounds

Journal
Diseases of Aquatic Organisms: Volume 142