Campylobacter is cured with Safe Food practices. 

What does "Campylobacter" mean?

Campylobacter is a bacterium that frequently causes diarrhea. This condition is known as Campylobacteriosis. This bacterium is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness worldwide. It is usually spread by poultry that is raw or undercooked, contaminated food or water, or contact with sick animals. The bacteria have a spiral shape (resembling a comma or the letter "S") and are classified as Gram-negative. There are over 20 species, but the most common causes of illness are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli.

Foods that can spread the disease are raw or undercooked poultry, contaminated food (like raw vegetables and milk that hasn't been pasteurised), drinking water that hasn't been treated, and contact with animals that carry the germs.

Signs of Campylobacteriosis:

Incubation period: two to five days after contact; 

Most common signs:

• Constipation (often messy) 
• Stomach pain and cramps 
• Fever 
• Feeling sick and throwing up 
• In the worst cases, Can look like appendicitis or ulcerative colitis and can cause infections in the bloodstream.

Public health

• About 1.5 million people get diarrhea every year in the U.S. because of Campylobacter, which is the most common bacterial cause of diarrhea.
• Seasonality: Summer is when infections happen more often.
• It has a big effect on people around the world getting sick from food, especially in poor countries.

Risks and treatments

• Healing: Most people get better without taking medicines.
• High-risk groups: Babies, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with weak immune systems may get very sick.
• Antibiotics: Azithromycin is often used, but fluoroquinolones don't work as well because bacteria are getting used to them.
• Problems: Infections can sometimes lead to autoimmune diseases like Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is a neurological problem.

What is harmful about Campylobacter?

Many problems can happen after getting a Campylobacter illness, and many of them are worse than the initial infection. Campylobacter infections can also affect the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune systems, in addition to the intestines.

Campylobacter is what

Usually, eating raw or undercooked poultry causes campylobacteriosis. But it can also happen if you eat contaminated food, drink water that hasn't been treated, or come into contact with infected animals.

Campylobacter infections are mostly spread by eating raw or undercooked poultry, other contaminated foods like shellfish, raw eggs, and raw meat (beef, pork, lamb), unpasteurized dairy products (especially milk and cheese), and raw fruits and vegetables that got dirty while being handled or washed. Untreated drinking water from lakes, rivers, or creeks can also harbour bacteria. Animal contact, including dogs, cats, livestock (pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry), and petting zoo animals, can spread Campylobacter. Passing it from person to person is less common, but it can happen if hygiene is poor.

Key Points: • About 1.5 million cases of bacterial diarrhea happen every year in the U.S.; • Infections are most common in the summer. • Cases are not always linked to outbreaks; many happen randomly.

What Causes Risk

• People with weak immune systems, babies, the elderly, and pregnant women are at a higher risk.
• How to handle food: cross-contamination in kitchens (for example, cutting boards and knives) raises the risk.
• Travel: it happens more often in developing countries where food and water sources aren't safe.

Ways to stop problems

• Make sure meat and chicken are fully cooked.
• Avoid unpasteurised milk and cheese.
• Wash your fruits and veggies before you eat them.
• Wash your hands well after working with animals.
• Only drink water that has been cleaned or boiled.
• Keep raw meat and ready-to-eat foods separate in the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination.

Is Campylobacter easily spread?

You can contract Campylobacter from other people, but this transmission is not as common as the spread of the flu. It is mostly transmitted through contaminated food or water or through direct contact with animals that carry the bacteria. Transmission can occur from person to person, but it is uncommon.

How Campylobacter Gets Around

• Transmission through food (most common):
• This can happen by eating raw or undercooked poultry, cross-contamination in the kitchen (for example, when juices from raw meat touch vegetables), drinking water that hasn't been treated or is contaminated, or coming into contact with animals that carry the bacteria, like puppies and kittens.
• Spread from person to person: It's not common, but it can happen if someone with diarrhea doesn't wash their hands properly and then touches food or dirty places.

Things that could spread disease

Poor hand hygiene after going to the bathroom or working with animals; preparing food without washing hands or utensils between raw and cooked foods; drinking untreated water while moving or camping; and eating milk or dairy products that have not been pasteurised.

Stopping Campylobacter

People can avoid getting Campylobacter infections by handling food safely, practicing excellent hygiene, and staying away from contaminated water or cheese that hasn't been pasteurised. The key is to stop the bacteria from spreading in the most common ways.

Core Strategies for Prevention: - 

• Wash your hands well with soap and water: - Before, during, and after cooking; - After going to the bathroom or changing a baby's diaper;
• After handling animals, pets, or their waste, wash your hands thoroughly.
• Make sure chicken and meat are fully cooked; heat kills Campylobacter. Make sure the body temperature of the chicken is safe by using a food thermometer.
• Don't rinse raw chicken because the water can spread bacteria to other areas in the kitchen.

To prevent the spread of germs in the kitchen:

•  Cut raw meat and ready-to-eat foods on different cutting boards.
• Only drink treated or boiled water; water that hasn't been treated can hold Campylobacter. 
• Clean knives, surfaces, and hands after touching raw meat.
• Only drink and eat dairy products that have been processed. Milk that has not been pasteurized is known to spread germs.
• Take care of dogs safely; wash your hands after touching them, their food, or their waste.

Being aware of the risks: 

• People get most of their infections from raw poultry; even a drop of raw chicken juice can contain enough germs to make you sick.
• Campylobacter can't handle heat; cooking something thoroughly kills it very well.
• Poor kitchen hygiene, like mixing raw and cooked foods, is a big cause of infections in the home.

Possible Problems

• Some strains of Campylobacter are immune to antibiotics, which means that prevention is more important than treatment.
• Travel risks: More common in developing areas where food and water sources aren't safe.
• Children and those with weakened immune systems are more likely to become ill.

How to treat Campylobacter

The video explains how to prevent Campylobacter

• Because of resistance trends, azithromycin is often chosen.
• Rest and fluids can help most Campylobacter infections go away on their own, but antibiotics may be needed in severe cases or for people who are more likely to get sick.

Standard Approach to Treatment: 

• Staying hydrated is the most important thing:
• Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water.
• If the diarrhea is severe, oral rehydration products such as Pedialyte® can be used.
• Illness that goes away on its own:
• Without drugs, most healthy people get better in about a week.

Use of Antibiotics: 

• Antibiotics are not usually needed; they are only given for: - Severe or long-lasting sickness
• High-risk groups (children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with weak immune systems)
• Antibiotic of choice:
• Azithromycin is the first choice, especially for resistant types.
• Other choices:
• In the past, fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin were used, but now many bacteria are resistant to them.

Problems and Extra Things to Think About

• Rare complications but serious:
• Guillain-Barré syndrome is a nerve condition
• Reactive arthritis is a bloodstream disease that affects individuals with weak immune systems.
• Hospitalization: This is necessary if the dehydration is severe or if other problems appear.
• Do not take diarrhea-curing medicines: By taking longer to get rid of germs, they may make illness last longer.

Conclusion

Food can transmit Campylobacter, a significant pathogen that causes illness worldwide. Even though most illnesses go away on their own, they can be very dangerous for people who are already weak, and they can sometimes lead to complications like Guillain-Barré syndrome. Proper hygiene and safe food habits can keep you from getting Campylobacter. While many individuals recover, there is a need to increase awareness and prevent it from occurring in the first place.