Campylobacter ureolyticus: an emerging gastrointestinal pathogen?

A total of 7194 faecal samples collected over a 1-year period from patients presenting with diarrhoea were screened for Campylobacter spp. using EntericBio (R), a multiplex-PCR system. Of 349 Campylobacter-positive samples, 23.8% were shown to be Campylobacter ureolyticus, using a combination of 16S rRNA gene analysis and highly specific primers targeting the HSP60 gene of this organism. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of C. ureolyticus in the faeces of patients presenting with gastroenteritis and may suggest a role for this organism as an emerging enteric pathogen.