Campylobacter

The Bacteria

The genus Campylobacter contains 17 species and 6 subspecies.

Campylobacter grows best with low oxygen levels (microaerophilic) and at a temperature between 30-45 °C – with optimum at 42°C. At this temperature, Campylobacter grows exponentially and one bacterium can turn into more than one million within 8 hours.

Campylobacter is naturally occurring in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy warm blooded animals - especially birds.

When Campylobacter bacteria are present in the faeces of production animals, the bacteria might be transferred from the intestine to the fresh meat during slaughtering. This cross contamination is particularly common when slaughtering poultry, but also occurs amongst pigs and cattle.

Campylobacteriosis

Infection with Campylobacter – campylobacteriosis – is often caused by consumption of contaminated food. The bacteria can exist in intestinal tracts without causing illness, but consumed, as little as 500 Campylobacter cells can cause illness.

The symptoms of campylobacteriosis are diarrhoea (occasionally bloody) and abdominal cramps and they usually occur 2 to 10 days after ingestion. Most people recover within 2 to 5 days, however in rare cases campylobacteriosis can cause more severe illness or even be fatal.

Campylobacter can survive refrigeration, are limited by freezing, and they are sensitive to heating above 60°C. Prevention is therefore possible through proper handling, cooking, and/or kitchen hygiene. Most incidences of campylobacteriosis occur during the summer period, from June to September.

Campylobacteriosis is a global disease and one of the most commonly reported foodborne disease in the industrialized countries. The many infections caused by Campylobacter impose an economic burden on the society due to treatments, care, lack of working ability etc.

Further information about Campylobacter is found elsewhere e.g. on the USDA website (United States Department of Agriculture).

SonoSteam^®

The biological effect of SonoSteam for reduction of Campylobacter has been demonstrated in various trials. The trials show that SonoSteam by others is able to reduce Campylobacter on chicken, read more...