Real Time PCR to detect and differentiate Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus and Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis

Bovine venereal campylobacter infection, caused by Campylobacter fetus venerealis, is of significant economic importance to the livestock industry. Unfortunately, the successful detection and discrimination of C. fetus venerealis from C. fetus fetus continue to be a limitation throughout the world. There are several publications warning of the problem with biotyping methods as well as with recent molecular based assays. In this study, assessed on 1071 isolates, we report on the successful development of two Real Time SYBR® Green PCR assays that will allow for the detection and discrimination of C. fetus fetus and C. fetus venerealis. The sensitivity reported here for the C. fetus (CampF4/R4) and the C. fetus venerealis (CampF7/R7) specific PCR assays are 100% and 98.7% respectively. The specificity for these same PCR assays are 99.6% and 99.8% respectively.