Abstract
The role of Campylobacter fetus in human illness has been recently rediscovered. C. fetus subsp. jejuni is now a widely recognized enteric pathogen. C. fetus subsp. intestinalis is also recognized as an opportunistic pathogen. At the present time, the epidemiology of human illness due to C. fetus remains obscure, but the role of various food products has been circumstantially implicated. The implication of food products has only been circumstantial because little information exists regarding (a) effective recovery methods for low numbers of C. fetus in foods; (b) distribution of the organism in foods; (c) survival and inactivation kinetics of C. fetus in foods; and (d) pathogenic mechanisms of food-borne illness due to subspecies of C. fetus. In this study, strains of C. fetus were obtained from various sources and a search for recovery methods from foods was undertaken. An enrichment technique using Brucella broth supplemented with sodium pyruvate, vancomycin, trimethoprim, polymyxin B sulfate, cephalothin and amphotericin B followed by plating onto supplemented Brucella agar was found to be effective for the recovery of low numbers of C. fetus subsp. jejuni in foods. No effective recovery method was found for C. fetus subsp. intestinalis. A variety of food products were examined for the presence of C. fetus, including muscle and variety meats from crossbred steers and hogs, raw milk from herds in Brazos County, Texas, raw milk from processing plants in Houston, Texas, and poultry products from processing plants in Texas. Chicken giblets were found to be a large reservoir for C. fetus subsp. jejuni. C. fetus subsp. jejuni was also recovered from one of five packages of frozen chicken gizzards purchased locally in College Station, Texas. Neither C. fetus subsp. jejuni nor C. fetus subsp. intestinalis could be recovered from other foods examined...
Christopher, Frank Mitchell (1981). Characterization of Campylobacter fetus in foods. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -281689.