Campylobacter in healthy slaughter pigs: a possible source of infection for man

Campylobacter were isolated from 103 of 173 (59 per cent) specimens of healthy slaughter pig faeces, washed intestines and water samples collected from a slaughterhouse and butcher's shop in West Germany. As most cases of human campylobacter enteritis are caused by Campylobacter jejuni, an attempt was made to find this organism among the isolates. Twenty-five out of the 103 strains (24 per cent) were identified as C jejuni. C jejuni was also isolated from salted water samples after overnight bowel storage in the butcher's shop, indicating that the customary salt preparation of the intestines did not eliminate all organisms present.