July 2008

Campylobacter jejuni (pronounced “camp-e-low-back-ter j-june-eye”) is a bacterium that was first recognized as a cause of human gastrointestinal illness in 1975. Since that time, the bacterium has been identified as the most common cause of bacterial foodborne illness in the U.S., ahead of Salmonella – the second most common cause (MMWR Weekly, 2000, March 17

Cambridge University Press has published online in its Cambridge Journals an interesting article titled: "Wide geographical distribution of internationally rate Campylobacter clones within New Zealand."

From the summary:

During the southern hemisphere winter of 2006 New Zealand experienced a significant increase in the number of reported cases of Campylobacter infection. In total, 112 Campylobacter isolates

Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning down under and is on the increase, with nearly 18,000 cases confirmed in Australia in 2007 (14,750 in 2002). This year, there have nearly been 8,000 cases.

World Poultry Net reports:

Concern over food poisoning caused by chicken meat has heightened, and has led to a