Health Care Provider Information on Campylobacteriosis

On this page:
Required Disease Reporting
Clinical Features 
Laboratory Diagnosis
Treatment

Required Disease Reporting

• Reporting Campylobacteriosis
  Healthcare providers and clinical laboratories are required to report cases and suspect cases to the Minnesota Department of Health.
  
   
• Cases are subject to restriction on daycare attendance and food handling.

Clinical Features

• CDC: Campylobacter Infections
  Includes information about clinical features, transmission, trends, and more.
  
   
• Many different kinds of infections can cause diarrhea and bloody diarrhea. Doctors can look for bacterial causes of diarrhea by asking a laboratory to culture a sample of stool from an ill person. Diagnosis of Campylobacter requires special laboratory culture procedures, which doctors may need to specifically request.
   

Laboratory Diagnosis

• Infection with Campylobacter is diagnosed by detecting the bacterium in the stool.
   

Treatment

• Virtually all persons infected with Campylobacter will recover without any specific treatment. Patients should drink plenty of fluids as long as the diarrhea lasts. In more severe cases, antibiotics such as erythromycin or a fluoroquinolone can be used, and can shorten the duration of symptoms if they are given early in the illness.

Do you suspect that you have a foodborne or waterborne illness? Visit reporting suspected foodborne/waterborne illnesses.