Investigation of a waterborne outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni enteritis with a serotyping scheme based on thermostable antigens

Abstract

Serotyping of 11 human and 2 water isolates of Campylobacter jejuni associated with a waterborne outbreak revealed two serotypes among the human isolates. One of these (serotype 58) was a new serotype and was added to the serotyping scheme. Serotypes were defined by using extracted thermostable antigens and passive hemagglutination titrations of both unabsorbed and cross-absorbed antisera. Two water isolates of the same serotype as six human isolates provided evidence to link a contaminated water supply to the outbreak.