Campylobacter

A genus of bacteria containing Gram-negative, nonsporeforming, spiral or S-curved rods with a single flagellum at one or both ends of the cell; cells may also become spherical under adverse conditions; they are motile with a corkscrewlike motion and nonsacchrolytic. The type species is C. fetus. [G. campylos, curved, + baktron, staff or rod]

- C. coli a thermophilic bacterial species that causes first watery, then inflammatory, diarrheal disease in humans and in piglets.

- C. concisus a catalase-negative bacterial species isolated from normal human fecal flora, gingival crevices in periodontal disease, and occasionally blood.

- C. fetus a bacterial species that contains various subspecies which can cause human infections as well as abortion in sheep and cattle; it is the type species of the genus C..

- C. fetus jejuni former name for C. jejuni.

- C. hyointestinalis a bacterial species that causes an enteropathy in pigs; has been recovered from fecal specimens in humans with diarrhea and with proctitis, but its pathogenic role has not been defined.

- C. jejuni a thermophilic bacterial species that causes in humans an acute gastroenteritis of sudden onset with constitutional symptoms (malaise, myalgia, arthralgia, and headache) and cramping abdominal pain; it has been associated with a demyelinating sequela, which can present with ascending paralysis. Potential sources of human infection include poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs. This species also causes abortion in sheep.

- C. lari a bacterial species primarily carried in birds, but associated with water-borne enteritis and occasionally septicemia in humans.

- C. pylori SYN: Helicobacter pylori.

- C. sputorum a facultative, microaerophilic, catalase-negative species found in the genital tract and feces of sheep and cattle and in the human oral cavity; a cause of human bronchitis.

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cam·py·lo·bac·ter 'kam-pə-lō-.bak-tər n

1) cap a genus of slender spirally curved rod bacteria of the family Spirillaceae that are gram-negative, microaerophilic, and motile with a characteristic motion resembling a corkscrew, that do not form spores, and that include forms formerly included in the genus Spirillum or Vibrio of which some are pathogenic for domestic animals or humans see HELICOBACTER

2) any bacterium of the genus Campylobacter

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n.

a genus of spiral motile Gram-negative bacteria. Species of Campylobacter are a common cause of food poisoning, producing headache, nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting lasting for 3-5 days. See also Helicobacter.

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Cam·py·lo·bac·ter (kam″pə-lo-bakґtər) [Gr. kampylos curved + -bacter] a genus of bacteria of the family Campylobacteraceae, consisting of gram-negative curved, S-shaped, or spiral rods. Organisms are microaerophilic to anaerobic, chemo-organotrophic, and motile by means of polar flagella; they are found in the oral cavity, intestinal tract, and reproductive organs. Some species are pathogenic. The type species is C. feґtus.