''Campylobacter coli'' is a

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wall ...

microaerophilic A microaerophile is a microorganism that requires environments containing lower levels of dioxygen than that are present in the atmosphere (i.e. < 21% O₂; typically 2–10% O₂) for optimal growth. A more re ...

, non-endospore-forming, S-shaped bacterial species within genus '' Campylobacter''. In humans, it ''C. coli'' can cause

campylobacteriosis Campylobacteriosis is an infection by the '' Campylobacter'' bacterium, most commonly ''C. jejuni''. It is among the most common bacterial infections of humans, often a foodborne illness. It produces an inflammatory, sometimes bloody, diarrhea or ...

, a diarrhoeal disease which is the most frequently reported

foodborne illness Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease) ...

in the European Union. ''C. coli'' grows slowly with an optimum temperature of 42 °C. When exposed to air for long periods, they become spherical or coccoid shaped.

History

In the year 1886,

Theodor Escherich Theodor Escherich (; 29 November 1857 – 15 February 1911) was a Germans, German-Austrians, Austrian pediatrics, pediatrician and a professor at universities in University of Graz, Graz and University of Vienna, Vienna. He discovered and de ...

established that spiral form bacteria were noted in the stool specimen and large intestinal mucous of neonates (an infant less than 4 weeks), and kittens. However, it was not until 1957, as widely spread as the bacteria were, '' Campylobacter'' was still not implicated in the human diarrhea. Further to this, in 1973, ''Campylobacter'' was proposed as a novel genus.

Pathogenicity and transmission

''Campylobacter coli'' are thought to be mainly transmitted to humans via handling and eating raw or undercooked meat or other contaminated food products, but due to their broad natural reservoir, they can also be transmitted via soil and water. Other known sources of ''Campylobacter'' infections include food products, such as unpasteurised milk and contaminated fresh produce. The infectious dose of ''Campylobacter'' ranges between 1000–10,000, but even 500–800 colony forming units (CFU) has also been reported to cause disease. The bacteria can also be transmitted to humans via direct contact with infected animals. Usually the incubation time after ingestion ranges between 24–72 hours, but incubation times up to a week have been reported. The adhesion to eukaryotic cells is mediated by several proteins, including the ''Campylobacter'' adhesion to fibronectin protein (''CadF''), which binds specifically to fibronectin in the cell membrane.

Virulence factors

Campylobacteriosis seems to be dependent on several virulence factors involving adhesion, invasion and bacterial motility adherence. ''Campylobacter'' secrete a cytolethal distending toxin (CDT), which is an AB toxin composed of three subunits encoded by ''cdtA'', ''cdtB'' and ''cdtC''. This toxin has DNase activity, which causes DNA double-strand breaks during the cell cycle G2 phase, leading eventually to cell apoptosis in HeLa and Caco-2 cells.

Survival

''Campylobacter'' are microaerophilic, fastidious organisms that become stressed in aerobic condition, temperature variations, osmotic balances, and starvation . However, in the community of ''Campylobacter'' species, ''C. coli'' has been discovered to be more aerotolerant than ''C. jejuni''; this explains the increasing survival and transmission of the strains during stressful processing and storage conditions (Karki et al., 2019).

Human infection

Campylobacteriosis is characterized by symptoms including high fever, headache, nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhoea, sometimes bloody. Foodborne infections caused by ''Campylobacter'' spp. can be diagnosed by isolation of the organism from faeces and identification by growth-dependent tests, immunological assays, or genomic analyses.

Treatment

Campylobacteriosis is often self-limiting infection, which is treated according to the symptoms, for example with electrolyte replacement and rehydration. While extra fluid is required of an infected person for as long as the symptoms lasts,

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

s such as azithromycin or ciprofloxacin can be used to treat risk groups, including immunocompromised patients. Due to the increased antibiotic usage in both animal agriculture and human populations, ''Campylobacter'' spp. has been reported to be progressively resistant to several antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones and macrolides. Although most patients recover from the infection, severe post-infectious complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition which causes muscle weakness as a result of the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system, have been linked to campylobacteriosis.

References

External links

Type strain of ''Campylobacter coli'' at Bac''Dive'' – the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2019 Campylobacterota Bacteria described in 1973