FOOD SAFETY FACTS ON CAMPYLOBACTER

What is foodborne illness?

Food contaminated by bacteria, viruses and parasites can make you sick. Many people have had foodborne illness and not even known it. It’s sometimes called food poisoning, and it can feel like the flu. Symptoms may include the following:

• stomach cramps
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• fever

Symptoms can start soon after eating contaminated food, but they can also occur up to a month or more later. For some people, especially young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, foodborne illness can be very dangerous.

Public health experts estimate that there are 11 to 13 million cases of foodborne illness in Canada every year. Most cases of foodborne illness can be prevented by using safe food handling practices and using a food thermometer to check that your food is cooked to a safe internal temperature!

What are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is a bacterium commonly found in the intestines of poultry, cattle, swine, rodents, wild birds and such household pets as cats and dogs. It has also been known to be found in untreated surface water (caused by fecal material moving through the environment) and manure. C. jejuni is the most common Campylobacter associated with human illness. Humans may develop an illness call campylobacteriosis if they consume food infected by C. jejuni bacteria.

What are the symptoms of Campylobacteriosis?

Symptoms may include fever, headache and muscle pain, followed by diarrhea, stomach pain, cramps, nausea and vomiting. More severe illness such as septicemia can occur in immunocompromised individuals.

Further complications could include Guillain-Barré Syndrome, meningitis, septicemia, urinary tract infections and reactive arthritis (this arthritis is almost always short term).

Symptoms of infection usually occur within 2 to 5 days after the bacteria have been ingested, but can occur up to a month later, and usually last no longer than 10 days. It takes most people anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to recover.

Where could I come in contact with Campylobacter jejuni?

Raw poultry fluids can carry the C. jejuni bacteria. The most common route of exposure is through cross-contamination of these raw poultry fluids with cutting boards, kitchen surfaces and non-cooked foods. People may also develop C. jejuni infections when they drink raw milk or non-chlorinated water.

Campylobacter jejuni may also be transmitted from hands that were not washed properly after petting infected cats and dogs (usually kittens and puppies) whose coats could contain infected fecal matter.

What can I do to protect myself and my family?

• Keep raw foods cold until they are to be cooked. Refrigerate or freeze raw poultry and meat immediately after purchase. Freezing can reduce the concentration of Campylobacter cells.
• Prevent cross-contamination: separate raw meat and poultry from ready-to-eat foods at all times, including in the shopping cart, grocery bags, refrigerator and during preparation.
• Washing raw chicken is unnecessary as any bacteria which might be present are destroyed by cooking. Washing poultry can result in cross-contamination in the kitchen.
• After handling and preparing raw meat and poultry, wash your hands and sanitize all utensils and work surfaces with a mild bleach solution (5 ml/1 tsp. bleach per 750 ml/3 cups water). Consider using a plastic cutting board. Place it in the dishwasher to disinfect.
• Wash your hands after petting cats and dogs.
• Drink only pasteurized milk.
• Drink water from a safe supply.
• Use a food thermometer: cook foods to a safe internal temperature.

Safeguarding Canada's Food Supply

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the Government of Canada’s science-based regulator for animal health, plant protection and, in partnership with Health Canada, food safety.

For more information on food safety or to order free copies of this brochure, visit the CFIA website at www.inspection.gc.ca or call 1 800 442-2342/TTY 1 800 465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday to Friday). You can also find food safety information on the Health Canada and Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education websites respectively at www.hc-sc.gc.ca and www.canfightbac.org.

P0573E-07
April 2007