CHRONIC GASTRITIS IN TIGERS ASSOCIATED WITH HELICOBACTER ACINONYX

Helicobacter,pylori-like organisms (HPLOs) were isolated from the gast ric mucosa of two Sumatran tigers and identified by polymerase chain r eaction analysis as Helicobacter acinonyx. At histological examination , both tigers revealed a chronic gastritis associated with HPLOs as de monstrated by immunolabelling and electron microscopy. This is the fir st isolation of H. acinonyx from tigers, in which, as previously repor ted in cheetahs, it may be a cause of gastritis. (C) 1998 W.B. Saunder s Company Limited.