Campylobacter enterocolitis

We report four patients with bloody diarrhea and colitis from Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni. Two patients had dogs with Campylobacter fetus in their stools. All patients responded rapidly and completely to erythromycin therapy. Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni is now a relatively common cause of enterocolitis, more common than salmonella or shigella. When the organism causes short-lived water diarrhea, a definitive diagnosis is not necessary. In a patient with bloody diarrhea and acute colitis, the clinician should pursue Campylobacter fetus as a potential offender, recognizing that acute colitis from Campylobacter fetus is clinically and and pathologically indistinguishable from any other acute colitis.