Primary isolation of Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni

Primary isolation of Campylobacter fetus ss. jejuni following selective filtration can be achieved equally well on a Columbia agar supplemented with sheep blood (5%), horse blood (5-10%), or heat-treated horse blood (chocolate agar). Larger, but not more, colonies were formed at 42C. However, the higher temperature inhibits C. fetus ss. Intestinalis. Reduced oxygen tension (5%) was advantageous for cultures on media supplemented with sheep blood. All other media tested did equally well as long as the atmosphere was enriched with 5-10% CO2.