Aerobic growth and survival of Campylobacter jejuni in food and stream water

When 40 Campylobacter jejuni isolates from human clinical cases, raw chicken and water were tested, 29 (72·5%) could be adapted to grow on nutrient agar under aerobic conditions. Once adapted, these isolates could grow on repeated aerobic subculture. An aerobically-grown Camp. jejuni isolate survived almost as well as the same isolate grown microaerophilically in sterile chicken mince at 5 °C, and survival of a cocktail of Camp. jejuni isolates under both atmospheres was comparable at 25 °C. However, at 37 °C, the decline in numbers of the aerobically-grown cells was greater. Survival of cells on chicken nuggets was poorer than in chicken mince. In filter-sterilized stream water incubated aerobically at 5 °C, survival of inocula grown under different atmospheres was again similar, but slightly better with the microaerophilically-grown cells. Adaptation to aerobic growth was not found to enhance survival under aerobic conditions.