Campylobacter

Clinical Features :

• known to cause abortion in domestic animals such as cattle, sheep, and swine
• sign and symptoms include :
  • diarrhea
  • abdominal cramps
  • anorexia
  • fever
• C. jejuni is the most common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide
• C. fetus ssp. fetus is isolated from blood cultures and rarely associated with gastroenteritis illness

General Characteristics :

• gram negative bacilli with spirals and seagull wings

Culture Media :

• CAMPY blood agar – use an enriched selective agar ,CAMPY-BAP, to isolate; contains a Brucella agar base with sheep blood and antimicrobials
• Skirrow
• Butzler

Environmental Requirements :

• microaerophilic AND capnophilic environment with gas mixture of approximately 85% N and 5% to 10% O2, 10 % CO2
• incubation is at 42°C – optimal growth temperature for organisms and other normal flora is inhibited at this temperature

Laboratory Diagnosis :

• culture media
  • colonies will appear moist, runny, and spreading
• C. jejuni is hippurate positive
• gram stain morphology is very important to identify these organisms