Campylobacter
Campylobacter is the most common cause of diarrhea in the world. Over
3,000 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in 2003, amounting to 12.6 cases for each 100,000 persons in the population.
Many more cases go undiagnosed and unreported, with estimates as high
as 2 to 4 million cases occurring in the U.S. per year.
These bacteria live in the intestines of healthy birds, and most raw poultry
meat has Campylobacter on it. Eating undercooked chicken or other food
that has been contaminated with juices dripping from raw chicken is the
most frequent source of this infection. Other foods include unpasteurized
milk, undercooked meats, mushrooms, cheese, shellfish, and eggs and also
untreated water (from infected animal or human feces).
Common Symptoms of this infection are diarrhea that is often bloody, abdominal
cramps and fever. Most people recover from Campylobacter diarrhea with
no special treatment. The illness can also be treated with antibiotics.
Patients could also develop arthritis after an infection with Campylobacter.
However, Campylobacter jejuni infection can be severe and life-threatening.
It may cause appendicitis or infect other organs as well as the blood
stream.
It is estimated that about one in 1,000 cases of Campylobacter infection
results in death. A small number of people develop a type of paralysis
called Guillain-Barre' syndrome 2-4 weeks after recovering from Campylobacter
infection.
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