title: Outbreak of recurrent abdominal cramps associated with Arcobacter butzleri in an Italian school.
abstract: In the autumn of 1983, an outbreak of recurrent abdominal cramps occurred in a nursery and primary school in the Rovigo area in Italy. None of the 10 affected children had diarrhea. An atypical Campylobacter-like organism was isolated from feces in all cases. Conventional enteropathogens were searched for but not detected. The Campylobacter-like organism was identified as Arcobacter butzleri by using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of whole-cell proteins and cellular fatty acid analysis. Its identity was confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridizations versus Arcobacter reference strains. All of the preserved outbreak strains have identical protein profiles and phenotypic characteristics and belong to serogroup 1 of the Lior serotyping scheme on the basis of slide agglutination of crude and absorbed antisera of A. butzleri reference strains versus heat-labile antigens of live bacteria. These data point to an epidemiological relationship. The successive timing of the cases suggests person-to-person transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Ospedale Civile, Rovigo, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandamme
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pugina
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benzi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Etterijck
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vlaes
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kersters
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Butzler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lior
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lauwers
mesh_terms: D002167:Campylobacter / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D014774:Virulence