NTU Undergraduates' research April 2014 - Biosciences | Page 92

Charles Hastewell-Woodman
Stress survival of Campylobacter in the food chain
Abstract
Campylobacter are the most commonly reported bacterial cause of intestinal disease infections in
England and Wales and it is generally a foodborne pathogen, it causes disease in a range of age
groups and symptoms are extremely unpleasant. Campylobacter is also a more robust organism than
originally thought and it is able to survive passage through the food chain, in the environment and in
hosts. The aim of this study was to discover at what point Campylobacter are unable to survive a
stress which they may encounter. Results point to Campylobacter being able to survive in different
conditions such as varying temperatures and oxygen levels for lengthy periods of time. The strains
used in this experiment (01/51 and RM1221) showed that they will not survive after a few days in an
anoxic environment and can only survive briefly 56°C temperatures. So Campylobacter do survive
their stresses encountered in the food chain, but should it be necessary, more extreme conditions
mean it would be possible to reduce the load of Campylobacter to below infective levels.
Keywords: Campylobacter, Survival, Temperature, Oxygen levels.