CAMPYLOBAC
TER
Campylobacter species
• Main species of medical importance :
– Campylobacter jejuni
– Campylobacter coli
Taxonomy
• Genus Campylobacter: 16 species and 6 subspecies
• More recently, two additional species have been proposed
• Typically Gram-negative
• Non-spore forming
• S-shaped or spiral shaped bacteria
(0.2–0.8 μm wide and 0.5–5 μm long)
• Single polar flagella at one or both ends
• Corkscrew-like motility
• Require microaerobic conditions
• Some strains also grow aerobically or anaerobically
• Neither ferment nor oxidise carbohydrates
• C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lari
– Thermophilic
– Growing optimally at 42°C
– Can colonise mucosal surfaces usually the intestinal tract of most mammalian and avian
species tested
• C. jejuni : two subspecies
– C. jejuni subsp. jejuni
– C. jejuni subsp. doylei
• Phenotypic tests
– nitrate reduction
– selenite reduction
– sodium fluoride
– Safranine
• Subspecies jejuni growth at 42°C
• Subspecies doylei not grow at 42°C
• Subspecies jejuni much more frequently isolated then subspecies doylei.
PATHOGENICITY
• Causes enteritis – toxigenic watery diarrhoeae
or dysentery
• In developing countries, cause disease mainly
in children under 2 years
• Produced :
Enterotoxin
Cytotoxin
RESERVOIR
Cattle Puppies Sheep
Kitten
Flies Rodents Chickens
Swine
Pig : main host for C. coli
Water or milk may : sporadic
cases or outbreak Stream
Contact can be via infected
stool of an ill dog or cat
Occasionally isolated from
stream, lakes and ponds Ponds
Lakes
CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS
Handling of raw poultry
Eating raw or undercooked
poultry meat
Source : cutting boards
Small infective dose
SYMPTOMS
• Many asymptomatic
• Fever 2-5 days after exposure
• Illness 7-10 days
Vomiting
Malaise
Abdominal pain Fever Nausea
PREVENT
ION
• Cook all poultry products thoroughly
– meat (no longer pink) and any juices run clear
– All poultry should be cooked to reach a minimum internal
temperature of 165 °F
• Wash hands with soap
– Before
• Preparing food
• Eating food
– After
• Contact with pet feces
• Handling raw foods of animal origin
• Working in the garden
• Using separate cutting boards
• Avoid consuming unpasteurized milk and
untreated surface water.
LAB FEATURES
• Specimens
• Transportation of samples
• Isolation of Campylobacter
• Morphology
• Identification of Campylobacter to
the species level
• Antimicrobial Sensitivity
SPECIMEN
Fresh feces
or dysenteric Blood
Specimens specimen Mucus
Pus
Transportation and treatment of samples
Transport
• Sensitive to environmental conditions
–dehydration
–atmospheric oxygen
–sunlight
–elevated temperature
• Rapid : preferably the same day but within at least 2 days
• The samples must be protected from light
•Freezing or high temperatures can reduce
viability
–High temperatures (>20°C), low temperatures
(<0°C) and fluctuations in temperature must be
avoided
•When the time between sampling and
processing is longer, storage at 4°C (±2°C) is
advised
Transport media
• Sample swabs: transport tubes containing a
medium (Amies) is recommended
• Function :
– Not for growth of Campylobacter spp.
– To protect the swab contents from
• Drying
• Toxic effects of oxygen
• When only small amounts of faecal samples
can be collected and transport tubes are not
available, shipment of the specimen in
transport medium is recommended
• Several transport media :
– Cary-Blair
– Modified Cary-Blair
– Modified Stuart medium
– Campythioglycolate medium Swab with Cary Blair
– Alkaline peptone water tube
– Semisolid motility test medium.
Cary-Blair bottle
Isolation of Campylobacter
• Selective media for isolation
–Improved Preston blood free agar
–Skirrow’s blood agar
–Butzler virion medium
–Campy-cefex
• Incubation
– Atmosphere
• Reduced O2 (5%) and CO2 (10%)
– Time
• 24–48 hours at 42°C
• Prolonged incubation : growth is very low
– Temperature
• 37°C or 42°C
• To minimise growth of contaminants
• The fungistatic agents cycloheximide or
amphothericin are added in order to prevent
growth of yeasts and mould at 37°C
MORPHOLOGY
Gram negative bacteria
Small delicate
Spirally curved
Motile
Some forms appear S-shaped
Organism develop: become longer and
look more spirochaetes Specimen : refrigerated
Immobilized in distilled water up to 24 h can be used
for culture
Catalase : Positive Resistance to cold
temp. (2-8˚C)
Oxidase : Positive
Do not attack sugar
Identification of Campylobacter to the species level
Confirmatory test Result for thermophilic Campylobacter
Morphology Small curved bacilli
Motility Characteristic (highly motile and cork-
screw like)
Oxidase +
Aerobic growth at 41.5°C –
Microaerobic growth at 25°C –
Confirmatory tests for thermophilic Campylobacter
Basic phenotypic characteristics of selected
thermophilic Campylobacter species
Characteristics C. jejuni C. coli C. lari
Hydrolysis of
hippurate + – –
Hydrolysis of
indoxyl acetate + + –
HIPPURATE TEST
Not hydrolyzes
hippurate :
C. coli
Hydrolyzes hippurate :
C. jejuni
Blood Agar Improved Preston Blood Free medium
• Non hemolytic spreading • C. jejuni
• Droplet - like colonies – Grey
– Moist
– Flat-spreading colonies
• C. coli
– Creamy grey
– Moist
– Slightly raised colonies
• Some strain may have green
hue or dry appearance with or
without metallic sheen
Antimicrobial Sensitivity
SENSITIVE RESISTANCE
• Ciprofloxacin
Macrolides • Tetracyclin
• Ampicillin
• Co-trimoxazole
REFERENCES
• www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194
947311366
• Lecture Note Microbe – Sir Zakaria Ismail
• http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/disease
s/campylobacter/
• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs255/e
n/index.html
• DISTRIC LABORATORY PRACTICE IN TROPICAL
COUNTRIES BOOK
