2003 Volume 56 Issue 12 Pages 819-824
We examined the prevalence of Arcobacter and Campylobacter among house rats trapped in buildings in Yokohama between July 2000 and June 2001. All of the trapped animals (n=157) were identified as Rattus rattus. Arcobacter was detected in 48 (30.6%) of the 157 animals. No thermophilic Campylobacter was detected from any of the animals in this investigation. There were no statistically significant differences among seasonal detection rates. Of 148 Arcobacter isolates, 145 were identified as A. butzleri. The remaining three strains isolated from one rat demonstrated biochemical characters and DNA sequences in part of the 23S rRNA gene different from those in other Arcobacter species. This suggests the possibility of the strains being new Arcobacter species close to A. butzleri. Thes present study showed that some house rats living in buildings in downtown Yokohama harbored Arcobacter species at a high rate.