Reservoirs for human campylobacteriosis.

The epidemiology of human enteric infection due to Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni is not well understood. To determine whether an endogenous human reservoir is present, the rate of isolation of C. fetus subspecies jejuni from several populations of diarrheal and asymptomatic adults and children were compared. C. fetus subspecies jejuni was recovered from 4.1% of patients with diarrhea and 66.7% of household contacts of the index patients who themselves had diarrhea. Carriage of organisms in most untreated patients lasted less than three weeks from onset of symptoms. C. fetus subspecies jejuni was rarely recovered from the feces of asymptomatic individuals and not at all from the vaginal flora of 272 women. Domestic animals, especially puppies with diarrhea, were frequently infected with Campylobacter and may represent a significant reservoir for human infection.