Latex agglutination for the detection of Campylobacter species in water

A commercially available sensitized latex suspension could detect viable (10²organisms/ml) or heat-killed Campylobacter jejuni. Cross-reactions with other Campylobacter spp. and Helicobacter pylori were only seen with suspensions > 10⁵organisms/ml. In laboratory microcosms, C. jejuni remained viable for 16 d at 4°C but latex detected antigen for at least 6 months. In water from a sewagecontaminated lake, the latex gave results comparable with culture for C. jejuni but much more rapidly. Culture-negative water supplies in chicken sheds containing campylobacter-colonized birds were shown to be sometimes latex-positive.