What is Campylobacter?

• Campylobacter is a species of bacteria that may be

found on pork meat as well as other food sources.
• The main species associated with food poisoning are
c.jejuni and c.coli
• It grows at temperatures between 30C and
45C. It has an optimum growth temperature of
42C
• It grows through a pH range of 4.9 to 9.0
• It has a minimum water activity level of 0.987
and grows best at reduced oxidization levels.
What is Campylobacter?(contd.)
• It is a slow growing organism compared
to others of the species. It may take an
hour for reproduction to complete even
with optimal conditions.
• Campylobacter can be easily killed at
temperatures of over 55C.
• They survive in food in refrigeration
temperatures.
• Freezing may help reduce the numbers.
• Campylobacter can cause diarrhea as
they grow in the gut and damage the
intestine.
Campylobacter infection in pork
• Campylobacter along with other microorganisms
may be found in the carcasses of pork which is
why careful procedures must be carried out to
lower the microbial population.
• Campylobacter coli are the species most
associated with contamination in pork.
• The bacteria find their way inside from the
surface, fecal matter, digestive tract as well as
contaminated slaughterhouses.
 Identifying campylobacter in
pork
• To isolate and identify Campylobacter in pork a
number of rectal swabs (with pork feces
samples) and organ samples (liver, spleen etc.)
are analyzed by bacteriological assays.
• The two types of isolation used are direct
isolation on a selective medium and isolation
with an included enriching step.
• There are various tests that can be carried out in
order to identify campylobacter.
• The morphology and motility can be observed
with simple microscopy and the morphology can
be observed via gram staining.
 Identifying campylobacter in
pork (contd.)
• A more advanced technique is hippurate
hydrolysis.
• In this method a loopful of a growth is
suspended from an 18-24 hour
Columbia agar plate with 5% cow blood
in a 400l of a 1%-hippurate solution.
• It is incubated at 37< for 2 hours.
• 200l 3.5%-ninhydrin solution is added
at the side of the tube to form an
overlay.
• It is then reincubated at 37< for 10
minutes.
• The reaction is then read.
• A positive reaction will show a dark
purple/blue color whereas a negative Left: Negative reaction (c.coli)
reaction will remain clear or gray. Right: Positive reaction
(c.jejuni)