Campylobacteriosis, 2019

There were 1,141 culture-confirmed Campylobacter reported in 2019 (20.3 per 100,000 population). This is an 8% decrease from the 1,238 cases reported in 2018, but a 27% increase from the annual median of 975 cases reported from 2009 to 2018 (range, 834 to 1,238). In 2019, 44% of cases occurred in people who resided in the metropolitan area. Of the 1,138 Campylobacter isolates confirmed and identified to species by MDH, 79% were C. jejuni and 11% were C. coli.

The median age of cases was 30 years (range, 2 months to 96 years). Forty-two percent were between 20 and 49 years of age, and 9% were ≤5 years of age. Fifty-seven percent were male. Fourteen percent were hospitalized; the median length of hospitalization was 3 days. Forty-seven percent of infections occurred during June through September. Of the 1,028 cases for whom data were available, 195 (19%) reported travel outside the United States during the week prior to illness onset. The most common travel destinations were Europe (n=48), Central or South America or the Caribbean (n=46), Mexico (n=37), Asia (n=35), Africa (n=12), and the Middle East (n=11).

Three outbreaks of Campylobacter infections were identified in 2019. One was due to foodborne transmission at a restaurant. One was due to contact with puppies; and one was associated with a festival, but the route of transmission was not determined.

A primary feature of public health importance among Campylobacter cases was the continued presence of Campylobacter isolates resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin), which are commonly used to treat campylobacteriosis. In 2019, the overall proportion of ciprofloxacin resistance among Campylobacter isolates tested was 36%. However, historically, 80- 90% of Campylobacter isolates from patients with a history of foreign travel during the week prior to illness onset, regardless of destination, were resistant to fluoroquinolones as compared to approximately 20% of Campylobacter isolates from patients who acquired their infection domestically.

In 2009, a culture-independent test (CIDT) became commercially available for the qualitative detection of Campylobacter antigens in stool. In 2019, 36 patients were positive for Campylobacter by an antigen detection CIDT conducted in a clinical laboratory. However, only 12 (33%) of the specimens were subsequently culture-confirmed. Beginning In 2015, some clinical laboratories in Minnesota began testing stool specimens with PCR-based gastrointestinal pathogen panels, another type of CIDT. In 2019, 1,247 patients were positive for Campylobacter by a PCR gastrointestinal panel; 923 (74%) of these specimens were culture-confirmed. Only culture-confirmed cases met the surveillance case definition for inclusion in MDH case count totals.

• Find up to date information at>> Campylobacteriosis (Campylobacter)
• Full issue>> Annual Summary of Communicable Diseases Reported to the Minnesota Department of Health, 2019