Campylobacter Jejuni

206BMS Infection and Immunity

06BMS Infection and Immunity

Sources of Campylobacter jejuni causing infection in humans

C. jejuni is a commonly occurring bacterium that is found is the intestines of birds and mammals. In humans, it is usually transmitted by eating raw or undercooked meat and poultry. Moreover, the bacterium is also found in the faeces of the infected wild animal which can contaminate drinking water, and may lead to widespread outbreak. In the case study, gastroenteritis occurred because of raw/undercooked chicken in the sandwich (Wilson et al 2008).

Food Intoxication vs. Food infection

There are two broad categories used to define food-related gastroenteritis, food infection and food intoxication. Food infection is defined as the illness occurring by ingesting contaminated food having live bacteria. These bacteria produce symptoms when they grow inside the intestines of humans. For this reason, symptoms of food infection take relatively a much longer time than toxins. For instance, food infection caused by E.coli may take up to ten days since the ingestion of contaminated food, for symptoms to appear the first time. Symptoms from food infection may also lasts longer than toxins, and can be easily transmitted from one person to another. C. jejuni is a food infection as it involves the digestion of live bacteria, rather than toxins. Other bacteria causing food infection include salmonella, shigella, listeria, and vibrio (NC DPH 2012).

On the other hand, food intoxication refers to diseases produced by the ingestion of food contaminated with toxins. These toxins are released by bacteria which are growing on the food one eats. Often, it is the food which has not been handled in a proper, hygienic way. Toxins may also result from heavy metals, chemicals, or some other substance present in the food. For example, fish and shellfish have a certain amount of concentrated toxins present in their flesh, which occurs due to their exceptions feeding habits and their environment. In general, the symptoms produced by toxins causing food intoxication, results in sudden onset of uncontrollable diarrhoea and/or vomiting (NC DPH 2012).

Epidemiology of Campylobacter sp and Salmonella gastroenteritis over last 10 years in UK

UK saw considerable development during the past decade related to public health. The focus was chiefly on hygiene and sanitation. Nonetheless, the number of food-borne illness relating to Campylobacter sp and Salmonella sp is a cause of concern for HPA. Despite the efforts, the incidence of the two pathogens continuously rises during the past decade, especially Campylobacter. According to recent studies, 1 in every 5 individual will suffer from a food-borne illness in UK, costing £0.75 billion in total (Humphery et al 2010).

Figure 1: Epidemiological Data taken from HPA (HPA 2012)

In London alone, the cases of Campylobacter sp rose from 4477 in 2000 to 6503 in 2011. On the other hand, the numbers of infections related to Salmonella sp significantly decrease. In 2000, there were 8616 cases reported in England and Wales, which declines to 2444 in 2010. The increased incidence of Campylobacter is linked to the increased supply of ...