Topic Overview

What is campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacteriosis is food poisoning caused by the campylobacter bacterium. It is one of the most common causes of diarrhea in the United States, affecting more than 2.4 million people every year.¹

Campylobacteriosis occurs much more often in the summer months than in the winter months. Infants, young adults, and males are most likely to get the condition.

What causes campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacteriosis is usually caused by handling poultry (such as chicken or turkey) that is contaminated with the campylobacter bacterium and is raw or undercooked. For example, you can be infected by cutting poultry meat on a cutting board and then using the unwashed cutting board or utensil to prepare vegetables or other raw or lightly cooked foods. Drinking contaminated milk or water from contaminated lakes or streams can also result in infection.

Campylobacteriosis usually is not spread from person to person. But this can happen if you have the condition and do not properly wash your hands. Some people have become infected through contact with the infected stool of a dog or cat.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of campylobacteriosis include diarrhea, cramping, stomach pain, and fever within 2 to 5 days after exposure to the bacteria. Your diarrhea may be bloody, and you may feel sick to your stomach and vomit. The illness usually lasts 1 week. Some people don't have any symptoms at all. In people with impaired immune systems, campylobacteriosis can be life-threatening.

How is campylobacteriosis diagnosed?

Your doctor will do a medical history and a physical exam and ask you questions about your symptoms, foods you have recently eaten, and your work and home environments. A stool culture can confirm the diagnosis.

How is it treated?

You treat campylobacteriosis by managing any complications until it passes. Dehydration caused by diarrhea and vomiting is the most common complication. Do not use medicines, including antibiotics and other treatments, unless your doctor recommends them. Most people recover completely within a week after symptoms begin, although sometimes recovery can take up to 10 days.

To prevent dehydration, take frequent sips of a rehydration drink (such as Pedialyte). Try to drink a cup of water or rehydration drink for each large, loose stool you have. Soda and fruit juices have too much sugar and not enough of the important electrolytes that are lost during diarrhea, and they should not be used to rehydrate.