October 20, 1997
Web posted at: 9:04 p.m. EDT (0104 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A germ
that may sicken and sometimes
kill people who eat undercooked
chicken or turkey is becoming
more common and is developing
resistance to antibiotics, scientists say.
Estimates put the number of cases of the disease
caused by campylobacter at 2 million to 8 million a
year in the United States and deaths at 200 to 800,
according to The New York Times, which reported
on the germ in its Monday editions.
The illness usually lasts about a week and its
symptoms include cramps, abdominal pain, bloody
diarrhea and fever. It can be as severe as the disease
caused by salmonella, another germ found in
undercooked poultry, but causes fewer fatalities,
according to Dr. Bert Bartleson of Washington state's
health department.
"Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause
of diarrhea in this country with an estimated 2 million
cases a year," said Dr. Robert Tauke of the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Recent research also
suggests that
campylobacter may lead to
the severe and sometime
fatal nerve damage caused
by Guillain-Barre syndrome.
About 20 percent to 40
percent of the 5,000 cases a year of Guillain-Barre
syndrome follow a bout of campylobacter infection.
Researchers say the campylobacter germ infects 70
percent to 90 percent of all chickens. That's a higher
estimate than one issued six years ago by the CDC,
which then said 30 percent to 70 percent of chickens
carried it.
The use of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones to
treat the infection in chickens has created strains of
drug-resistant campylobacter in humans.
"Since 1995, with the licensing of fluoroquinolones
for use in chickens, levels of drug-resistant
campylobacter in humans has gone up dramatically,"
said Dr. Michael Osterholm of the Minnesota Health
Department.
Osterholm's department randomly sampled poultry in
Minnesota supermarkets and found 70 percent of
chickens were contaminated with the germ; of those,
20 percent had the drug-resistant strain.
For turkeys, 58 percent were contaminated and 84
percent of those had the drug-resistant strain.
In a fax to CNN, the National Broiler Council said, "It
appears the use of the drug in the poultry industry is
quite limited so far. Speculation about its impact is
not based on extensive experience in actual use."
Scientists believe the public is more aware of
salmonella than the more widespread campylobacter
because the latter is hard to pronounce and spell and
there is no simple laboratory test to detect it.
"The public doesn't know any of this. We were
bemoaning the fact that campylobacter hasn't
received the attention it should have," Dr. Martin
Blaser told the Times. Blaser, an expert in research on
the link between campylobacter and Guillain-Barre
syndrome, is director of the division of infectious
disease at the Vanderbilt University School of
Medicine.
For both campylobacter and salmonella, the safety
advice is the same: Cook poultry thoroughly, and
carefully wash anything that has come into contact
with raw poultry or its juices.
The Times reported that while poultry is the main
source of the germ, there are other causes. They are
unpasteurized milk, untreated water, and, in 5 to 10
percent of the cases, contact with the feces of pets
carrying the bacteria.
Current Federal regulations to cut disease-causing bacteria in
beef and poultry say nothing about the need to reduce
the [campylobacter] contaminant in poultry, the Times said.