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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424394
Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Control Salmonella and Campylobacter During Poultry Processing

Location: Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit

Title: Head-to-head comparison of CAMPYAIR aerobic culture medium versus standard microaerophilic culture for Campylobacter isolation from clinical samples

Author
item LEVICAN, AURTURO - Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
item VARELA, CARMEN - University Of Desarrollo
item PORTE, LORENA - University Of Desarrollo
item WEITZEL, THOMAS - University Of Desarrollo
item BRICENO, ISABEL - Almirante Nef Naval Hospital
item GUERRA, FRANCISCO - Almirante Nef Naval Hospital
item MENA, BENAMIN - Almirante Nef Naval Hospital
item HINTON JR, ARTHUR - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/24/2023
Publication Date: 6/13/2023
Citation: Levican, A., Varela, C., Porte, L., Weitzel, T., Briceno, I., Guerra, F., Mena, B., Hinton Jr, A. 2023. Head-to-head comparison of CAMPYAIR aerobic culture medium versus standard microaerophilic culture for Campylobacter isolation from clinical samples. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153693.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1153693

Interpretive Summary: Campylobacter is a common cause of foodborne illness in humans. However, isolation is difficult and can be expensive. CAMPYAIR is a new selective media developed to reduce the cost and difficulty of isolating Campylobacter. This study tested the ability of CAMPYAIR media to isolate Campylobacter from clinical samples compared to CASA media with microaerophilic incubation. The sensitivity and specificity were 87.5% and 100% respectively. This showed that CAMPYAIR could be used to isolate Campylobacter in resource-limited situations.

Technical Abstract: Campylobacter spp. are considered the most frequent cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. However, outside high-income countries, its burden is poorly understood. Limited published data suggest that Campylobacter prevalence in low- and middle-income countries is high, but their reservoirs and age distribution are different. Culturing Campylobacter is expensive due to laboratory equipment and supplies needed to grow the bacterium (e.g., selective culture media, microaerophilic atmosphere, and a 42°C incubator). These requirements limit the diagnostic capacity of clinical laboratories in many resource-poor regions, leading to significant underdiagnosis and underreporting of isolation of the pathogen. CAMPYAIR, a newly developed selective differential medium, permits Campylobacter isolation without the need for microaerophilic incubation. The medium is supplemented with antibiotics to allow Campylobacter isolation in complex matrices such as human feces. The present study aims to evaluate the ability of the medium to recover Campylobacter from routine clinical samples. A total of 191 human stool samples were used to compare the ability of CAMPYAIR (aerobic incubation) and a commercial Campylobacter medium (CASA, microaerophilic incubation) to recover Campylobacter. All Campylobacter isolates were then identified by MALDI-TOF MS. CAMPYAIR showed sensitivity and specificity values of 87.5% (95% CI 47.4%–99.7%) and 100% (95% CI 98%–100%), respectively. The positive predictive value of CAMPYAIR was 100% and its negative predictive value was 99.5% (95% CI 96.7%–99.9%); Kappa Cohen coefficient was 0.93 (95% CI 0.79–1.0). The high diagnostic performance and low technical requirements of the CAMPYAIR medium could permit Campylobacter culture in countries with limited resources.