By Azam Ali Sher | Michigan State University |
Campylobacter, a pathogenic bacteria often linked with poultry, is a leading cause of food poisoning in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year, there are 1.5 million human cases of campylobacteriosis in the US, which generate approximately $270 million in direct medical costs.
Campylobacter can survive in many places including the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and many animals, as well as environmental sites like farms or other food production environments. Pathogens like Campylobacter often evolve to become better-able to survive in new environments. And like many other pathogens, Campylobacter is affected by the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. A recent CDC report found that 29 percent of Campylobacter infections in the US were drug-resistant. Antibiotic-resistant C. jejuni infections can last longer, be more difficult to treat, and cause more serious illness.
Without insight into the mechanisms of a specific bacterium’s evolution, it’s more difficult to understand how antibiotic resistance emerges and, similarly, to find new therapeutic and preventative treatment options—in this case, for C. jejuni-based food poisoning. But that is what one Spartan research team is working to understand.
Read More on Website of College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University
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