What is Campylobacter?
Campylobacter is a bacteria that can cause an illness in humans and animals called campylobacteriosis.
These spiral-shaped bacteria are fragile. They grow only in places with low oxygen levels and die if they dry out or are exposed to oxygen.
What are the symptoms?
Common symptoms are diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms usually appear 2 to 5 days after exposure to the bacteria and last for 1 week. However, Campylobacter can sometimes spread to the bloodstream and cause a serious, life-threatening infection for people with compromised immune systems.
How do you get infected with Campylobacter?
Common ways people get infected with Campylobacter include:
- Eating raw or undercooked poultry meat.
- Preparing food with knives or cutting boards that were used with raw poultry. Campylobacter bacteria can spread to other food when you handle contaminated meat before preparing other uncontaminated food.
- Drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk or other unpasteurized dairy products.
- Touching animals that carry Campylobacter or touching their food, water, poop, or environment (such as beds, cages, tanks, coops, stalls, and barns) - including chickens and puppies.
- Drinking untreated water.
Campylobacter is not usually spread from one person to another.
A very small number of organisms (fewer than 500) can cause someone to become sick. Even one drop of juice from raw chicken meat can infect a person. Infants may get the infection by touching poultry packages in shopping carts.
Who can get a Campylobacter infection?
Anyone who is exposed to Campylobacter can get campylobacteriosis. Some groups of people are more likely to get very sick from the bacteria, including children under 5, people over 65, and people with weakened immune systems.
How can I prevent Campylobacter infections?
Some simple food handling practices can help prevent Campylobacter infections.
- Cook all poultry products thoroughly. Make sure the meat is cooked throughout (no longer pink) and any juices run clear. All poultry should be cooked to reach a minimum internal temperature of 165° F.
- If you are served undercooked poultry in a restaurant, send it back to be cooked longer and served on a new plate.
- Wash your hands with soap before preparing food.
- Wash your hands with soap after handling raw foods that come from animals and before touching anything else.
- Prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen. Use separate cutting boards for foods that come from animals, and carefully clean all your cutting boards, countertops, and utensils with soap and hot water after preparing raw food that comes from animals (including pet food).
- Avoid consuming unpasteurized milk and untreated surface water.
- Make sure people with diarrhea, especially children, wash their hands carefully and frequently with soap to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
- Wash your hands with soap after touching pet poop.
What is the treatment for a Campylobacter infection?
Almost everyone who is infected with Campylobacter infection will recover without any specific treatment. Patients should drink extra fluids while they have diarrhea. In more severe cases, antibiotics such as azithromycin or erythromycin can shorten the duration of symptoms if they’re given early in the illness. Your doctor will decide whether antibiotics are necessary.