title: Prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni in ranch mink at pelting: Cultural, serological, and histological evidence of infection.
abstract: This survey of 500 mink on three Wisconsin ranches at pelting gives an estimate of the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni in the feces of clinically normal animals. On ranches 1 and 2, which used wet feed, C. jejuni was isolated by colon content culture from 7% and 32% of mink one year, and 43% and 13% the next year; the 200 bile samples tested were culture-negative. On ranch 3, which fed a pelleted ration, the organism was never isolated. Among culture-positive mink tested, 22 of 55 had bacterial agglutination serum titers to homologous and/or heterologous Campylobacter isolates from the ranch of origin. Four of 23 culture-negative animals tested had titers. No histological evidence of inflammatory changes in the lower ileum and/or colon was found, although Campylobacter-like organisms were rarely seen in silver-stained sections from both culture-negative and culture-positive animals. We conclude that the presence of C. jejuni in the mink gut does not necessarily indicate a role in gastrointestinal disease.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Manning