Campylobacter infections : species identification and typing.

Campylobacters are the most frequently identified cause of acute bacterial diarrhea in humans in England and in many other developed countries. Although C jejuni and C coli are numerically the most important species in cases of campylobacter enteritis, there is a growing awareness that some of the other 13 species of Campylobactermay also be linked with human disease. However, precise identification of these organisms is rarely carried out in clincal laboratories, and the significance of most species or subtypes in causing human disease is unknown.