Gastric spirillosis in beagles

Light microscopic, ultrastructural, and microbiologic evaluations were performed on stomachs from 30 healthy laboratory-reared Beagles. Spiral-shaped microorganisms were seen in the gastric glands and parietal cell canaliculi of all the dogs. Organisms were most numerous in the cardia and in the region of the fundic-pyloric junction. Lymphoreticular hyperplasia, dilatation of parietal cell canaliculi, and degeneration of individual parietal cells (rarely seen) were the only morphologic alterations seen. Organisms were helical, had tufts of flagella at each end, and were approximately 0.5 X 7.0 micron; some had a distinct axial fibril (indicating two distinct forms of the organism). Attempts to propagate a viable culture of the organism were not successful. The organism most closely resembled those of the genus Spirillum. Because the organism was commonly found in the gastric mucosa of healthy Beagles, it probably should be considered part of the natural gastric flora of dogs.