Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis meningitis associated with a companion dog in a young adult: a case report

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 1280
• Main Authors: Seong, Yeol Jung, Lee, Seung Hun, Kim, Eun Jin, Choi, Young Hwa, Kim, Tae-Joon, Lee, Wee Gyo, Heo, Jung Yeon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 27.12.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Alcoholism; Animals; Antibiotics; Bacteremia; Bacterial meningitis; Blood; Blood culture; Campylobacter; Campylobacter - genetics; Campylobacter fetus; Campylobacter fetus - genetics; Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis; Campylobacter infections; Campylobacter Infections - diagnosis; Campylobacter Infections - veterinary; Care and treatment; Case Report; Case reports; Cattle; Commensals; Companion animal; Diabetes; Diagnosis; Disease; Dogs; Doripenem; Dosage and administration; Drug abuse; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Extremities; Fetuses; Gastrointestinal system; Gastrointestinal tract; Health aspects; Hemorrhage; Humans; Immunocompromised hosts; Infections; Infectious diseases; Meningitis; Nervous system; Pathogens; Patients; Pets; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Prevention; Risk factors; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; rRNA 16S; Streptococcus infections; Systematic review; Young Adult; Young adults; Zoonoses; Zoonotic infectious diseases; South Korea; Companion animal; Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis; Bacterial meningitis; Zoonotic infectious diseases
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-07007-5

Campylobacter spp., common commensals in the gastrointestinal tract of animals, especially poultry, can cause acute gastrointestinal illness in humans through animal-to-human transmission. Although Campylobacter fetus, especially subspecies fetus, rarely leads to systemic infections such as bacteremia in immunocompromised patients, it is unclear whether Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis (Cfv) causes infectious diseases in humans. A 28-year-old man with a history of chronic alcoholism visited the emergency department with weakness of the left extremities. The patient was clinically diagnosed with community-acquired bacterial meningitis. The organism from the blood culture was subsequently identified as Campylobacter fetus. On phylogenetic analysis, the 16S rRNA sequence showed 99.93% similarity with other Cfv 16S rRNA sequences. The patient had no exposure to identifiable sources except for close contact with a companion dog, which could have been a possible source of transmission. This case suggests that Cfv could lead to human systemic infections such as meningitis and that companion animals, in addition to well-known animal hosts, could be sources of transmission.