Chlamydial infection in animals
Peter C.
Griffiths, Ph.D
Veterinary Laboratories Agency
(Weybridge)
Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, United Kingdom
Introduction
Chlamydial infections are widespread in the animal kingdom, affecting
animal species ranging from amoebae and invertebrates generally to vertebrates. Among the latter, several classes are affected including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. A
wide variety of clinical diseases caused by chlamydial infections in animals are
described, most notably abortion, pneumonia,
, conjunctivitis,
encephalomyelitis
polyarthritis,
various intestinal syndromes and, in birds, inflammation
of the air sac. Infection in animals is often clinically inapparent, perhaps
with long-term shedding of infectious chlamydiae from the intestine, a process
which may be important for the transmission of infection. Or it may take a
severe, systemic and sometimes fatal course. Ongoing studies at the molecular
level are likely to lead to improved characterization and diagnosis of
chlamydiae infecting animals.
[MEW Comment: The Chlamydiales
arguably have the widest host range of any bacterial group. Genomic sequence
studies have identified a surprisingly large number of chlamydial genes with
homology to the genes of higher organisms, including plants. There is an
intriguing possibility (Moulder, personal communication) that chlamydiales-like
organisms will be found in plants also].
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