Seroprevalence and risk factors for Campylobacter jejuni seropositivity in Jordan.

BACKGROUND

This is the first large-scale cross-sectional study to examine Campylobacter jejuni seropositivity in Jordan.

METHODS

A total of 368 serum samples from nine governorates of Jordan were tested for IgA and IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay along with data collection to determine and rank possible risk factors by logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

The results showed that the rate of seroprevalence is 13.9%. Using chi-square test, six factors were significantly associated with C. jejuni seropositivity (p ≤ .05) including age, drinking raw milk, drinking spring lake water, small ruminant ownership, and dairy cow ownership; meanwhile, drinking filtered water was a protective factor. Chi-square test showed that people ≤19 years old and ≥60 years old had significantly higher seropositivity than other age groups. The multivariate logistic regression model showed that people drinking raw milk had higher odds (adjusted OR= 4.6, 95% CI 2.4-8.8, p-value <.001) for positivity compared with people who do not drink raw milk. Meanwhile, people who own a small ruminant had higher odds (adjusted OR= 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.8, p-value = .05) when compared with people who do not own a small ruminant.

CONCLUSION

This study concludes that raw milk consumption and ruminant ownership are risk factors of campylobacter infection in Jordan. Thus, awareness regarding the adverse health consequences from raw milk consumption should be addressed, and campylobacteriosis should also be considered in the differential diagnosis of diarrhoea cases in farmers and their children. Further investigation of Campylobacter infection among younger age groups is recommended.